NGA CENTER FOR BEST PRACTICES

1. NGA CENTER FOR BEST PRACTICES Waves of Change: Examining the Roles of States in Emerging Ocean Policy

2. Key Issues Confronting State Officials: The America’s WETLAND Restoration Initiative Karen Gautreaux Louisiana Governor’s OfficeSeptember 4, 2003

3. THE PROBLEM 1956-90 Land Loss 1993-2050 Predicted Land Loss EXISTING & PREDICTED LAND LOSS 1956-2050

5. THE IMPACT • At least 25% of all oil and gas consumed in the U.S. and over 80% of offshore oil and gas supply travels through Louisiana’s wetlands • More than 30% of U.S. fisheries catch from the lower 48 states comes from offshore Louisiana ECONOMIC & ENERGY SECURITY

6. THE IMPACT • One of the largest habitats for migratory waterfowl in the world • Many plant and animal species in wetlands listed as threatened or endangered WORLD ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

7. Louisiana Coastal Area Study • Continuation of efforts beginning in 1989 with state legislation and 1990 passage of the Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration (Breaux) Act. • Coast 2050 developed under auspices of Breaux Act • LCA - Comprehensive plan for rehabilitating LA’s Coastal wetland ecosystem

8. Our Direction Vision • Sustain coastal ecosystem that supports and protects the national economy, significant environmental values, and the unique culture of coastal Louisiana. Study Goal • Explore strategies and develop long-range, large- scale plans to restore and protect central Gulf coast.

9. Our Direction Objectives • Hydro-geomorphic • Maintain salinity gradients • Increase sediment delivery • Maintain or establish natural landscape features • Ecosystem • Improve productivity and sustain diverse flora, fauna, and habitat • Reduce nutrient delivery to the gulf • Achieve consistency of all coastal activities in support of the vision

10. Report Purpose • Present compelling rationale for national action and long-term commitment • Present a Plan of action at a coast-wide scale • Provide basis for Congressional approval of a Comprehensive Plan in WRDA 2004

11. What will the report include? • Benefit focused primarily on National Ecosystem Restoration • Broad-scale description of potential economic effects • Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement • General Project feature locations • Cost estimates

12. LCA Comprehensive Report • Mississippi River & Delta • Mississippi River Basin • Meandering of the Delta • Gulf of Mexico • Change over time • Building the delta • Natural Characteristics • Introduction to Coastal Louisiana (map) • Building the Nation • Managing the River • LA Purchase • 1912,1927 floods • Navigation Projects-Benefits/Effects • Development of Communities • Agriculture/ Forestry • Soil Conservation • Energy action/ effects/ benefits • Fisheries • Loss of America's Wetlands • Rates and causes of losses • Ecological impacts of future without • Economic impacts • Hurricane protection systems • Navigation systems • Oil and Gas • Fisheries • Cultural • Saving America’s WETLAND: • Initial Phase • Breaux Act • Other Activities • Not solving the Problem • Saving America’s WETLAND: • Comprehensive Plan • LCA Teams • Alternatives (brief descriptions) • The plan • Comparison plan costs to benefits to the Nation • Coastal Consistency • Implementation Strategy Storyboard

13. COASTWIDE RESTORATION PLAN

14. Calcasieu River BATON ROUGE Atchafalaya River LAKE CHARLES Mississippi River NEW ORLEANS LAFAYETTE GIWW MORGAN CITY MR-GO Mermentau River Freshwater Bayou HOUMA GIWW Barataria Bay Waterway Mississippi River Outlet Houma Navigation Canal VENICE The Nation’s Resource Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA)

15. Funding Strategies • Provide for use of multiple appropriations to fund project construction • Define new funding sources • Develop Federal partner programs in support of LCA • Reallocate existing funding sources

16. Comprehensive Design LCA Project Schedule FY02 I FY03 I FY04 I FY05 I FY06 OMB/CEQ Briefing 04 Sep 03 Submit Preliminary Report to 12 Sep 03 OMB/CEQ File DEIS/Report with EPA 18 Sep 03 Public Review Begins 26 Sep 03 Complete Public Review 24 Nov 03 File FEIS/Report with EPA 20 Feb 04 MRC Meeting 31 Mar 04 Chief’s Report Sent to ASA(CW) 30 Jun 04

17. LESSONS LEARNED

18. LESSONS LEARNED GOALS • Adopt specific goals for the plan • Periodically review and revise programmatic goals • Establish a formal process for review and update the restoration plan at defined intervals

19. LESSONS LEARNED LEADERSHIP • Secure and maintain support at the highest levels possible • Program management leadership should create a vision and organizational identity • Plan for leadership succession to ensure continuity • Assign a single project manager for each project

20. LESSONS LEARNED STAKEHOLDER & PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT • Provide opportunities for involvement at both the program and project levels and implement outreach and education • Target “opinion leaders” and the leaders of key stakeholder groups • Fully utilize the Governor’s Advisory Commission as a vehicle for outreach and as a forum for consensus-building on key issues • Provide adequate funding and staff support for outreach and educational activities

21. LESSONS LEARNED PROGRAM AND PROJECT CONTROLS • Focus early on programmatic policy and procedures • Invest early in the development of program and project control systems • Put program-specific policy, procedures, and controls in place before ramp-up of project development

22. Lessons Learned PROJECT DEVELOPMENT & IMPLEMENTATION • Establish process for definition and prioritization of projects • Define project development process before initiating project development • Provide flexibility in the project development process • Consider regional approaches to project development and implementation

23. LESSONS LEARNED SOUND SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING • A “science program” should be established to support the implementation of the restoration plan and should include: • Decision support systems (DSS) • Adaptive management • Research & Development (R&D) • Independent scientific peer review

24. LESSONS LEARNED SOUND SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING • Overall objective is to reduce uncertainty and improve decision-making: • R&D should focus on critical gaps in data, information and knowledge • Define an organizational structure that provides formal linkages between science and programmatic and project-level decision-making

25. LESSONS LEARNED SOUND SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING • Provide stable funding and staff support for “science program” • Establish formal process for identification of needs and priorities; review and update at regular intervals • Establish programmatic monitoring and assessment program early

26. LESSONS LEARNED RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS • Commit resources early to the development of program management infrastructure • Evaluate human resources requirements in terms of both capability and capacity • Determine which functions will be performed with in-house resources and which will be outsourced • Allow adequate time to build capability and capacity

27. LESSONS LEARNED PROGRAM ORGANIZATION & DECISION-MAKING STRUCTURE • Don’t defer discussion and resolution of organization issues • Embrace collaborative and consensus-oriented decision-making • Ensure high-level representation and clearly define the roles and responsibilities of participating agencies • Define a process for dispute resolution

28. LESSONS LEARNED PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT • Continuously monitor and assess program performance • Metrics should be quantitative and time-specific • Report results regularly • Demonstrate success and learn from failure

29. SPECIAL THANKS TO: • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • Parsons Engineering • PBS&J • USGS • America’s WETLAND: Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana