Morganza work threatened by funding cuts

A visit to Capitol Hill and the Louisiana Congressional delegation last week by members of the Morganza Action Coalition was perceived as laying a foundation for future funding, looking past Obama Administration budget cuts for flood control and hurricane protection projects, and out waiting a congressional ban on earmarked legislation.

“I think [the trip] was successful in as far as it can be,” said Terrebonne Water and Conservation District Executive Director Reggie Dupre. “With the prohibition on earmarks, especially in the House of Representatives, there is not going to be any new money floating around.”

Dupre, a former legislator, said that keeping perspective of how federal and state governments work is significant in understanding how not to fall into a panic mode, but remain at the forefront of consideration for financing when it becomes available.

“The floodgates on the Houma Navigational Canal are through state and local resources, so that’s not going to affect us,” Dupre said regarding a high profile project independent from Morganza. “We have enough money to keep working on [other projects] until October.”

Dupre said the coalition went to Washington with a three point agenda. “The No. 1 issue we were addressing was to bring our concerns to the fact that President Obama’s budget did not include any money for Morganza, which is about $3.5 million of federal money needed in the next two fiscal years to finish the post authorization change point,” he said.

Morganza to the Gulf has been in the works for the past 19 years and is being built in sections so as to streamline inspections, studies, funding and actual construction conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“We don’t want any further delay and the post authorization report is due to be completed by the end of 2012. We want to make sure that schedule stays on. I think that the governor’s office [is] looking at options on how to address the problem and a possible transfer of other monies,” Dupre said.

A second issue brought by the seven MAC members to congressional leaders involved discussion on if BP restitution money could be used to help finance the Houma Navigational Canal Lock.

The third agenda item regarded general discussion on policies that reach beyond the Terrebonne Levee District and deal with mitigation requirements. “[We want them to consider] how we are different from the rest of the country and how certain policy issues need to be addressed,” Dupre said.

Gulf Economic Survival Team Executive Director Lori LeBlanc, joined the coalition as a consultant and agreed with Dupre that the trip could be considered a success.

“The positive is that we already have one [construction] authorization and have been identified as an authorization project,” LeBlanc said. “I think what we are dealing with now is, as every obstacle comes up we work through it.”

LeBlanc said that those who have worked on Morganza to the Gulf are no strangers to delays and changes in plans. She identified the primary purpose of the trip as being to get at the front of a line for a $3.5 million allocation to complete their Post Authorization Change report.

The coalition learned while meeting with elected officials that the 2012 federal budget did not include PAC funds.

In the past, one option that was considered was funding through the Water Resource Development Act. This designation, like PAC, can be considered an earmark, thus blocking it as a financial tool. The result is that no new federal funds are being made available for highway or waterway building or repair projects in the next year.

Dupre and LeBlanc said for now construction will continue on Morganza to the Gulf with existing funds. Their challenge is being able to secure money to continue work in fiscal year 2012.

“Effective hurricane protection is the most critical infrastructure issue for Terrebonne Parish if we are to continue to exist as one of the most productive regions in the state and the nation,” said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet. “If we have unused federal dollars from one levee project, it just makes sense for us to seek approval to use that money to complete the PAC and to expedite federal action on the Morganza system. We cannot afford to leave federal dollars on the table.”

MAC is working closely with the Louisiana Congressional delegation and Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chairman Garrett Graves, who also serves as chief coastal advisor for Gov. Bobby Jindal, to look at the possible transfer of unspent federal funds that could be channeled through the state to Morganza.

“Being that Morganza to the Gulf is a major statewide issue, not just a Terrebonne Parish issue, we thought it was important to try and inform [our congressmen] on what is going on,” Dupre said.

“While money is always a good thing, sometimes these trips are about the policy issues that we need to work through that in the long run are either going to get us more money or save us money,” LeBlanc said. “Even with the ban on earmarks, it was a worthwhile trip.”

Work on flood and hurricane protection projects continue as representatives with the Morganza Action Coalition lobby federal and state lawmakers for continued funding in an effort to head off once currently budgeted dollars running dry. MIKE NIXON