By the late 1980s and early 90s, Louisianans recognized that coastal land loss was becoming an epidemic that needed to be recognized on a national level. In 1990, Louisiana Senators J. Bennett Johnston and John Breaux presented their case to help save the vanishing wetlands by successfully persuading Congress to enact the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA). Often referred to as simply “The Breaux Act,” CWPPRA was the first federally mandated restoration effort to take place along Louisiana’s coast and the first program to provide a stable source of federal funds dedicated specifically to coastal restoration.

The CWPPRA program emphasizes practical benefit to habitat and communities while supporting the economic uses that make the region so valuable to the nation. A wide range of techniques are used to rebuild coastal wetlands funded by CWPPRA projects including, vegetation planting, river diversions, hydrologic restoration, marsh creation, shoreline protection, sediment trapping and barrier island stabilization.  

Louisiana receives approximately $50 million each year for coastal restoration projects designed and built by CWPPRA. The federal funds are currently matched by a 15 percent state contribution. Approximately 90 percent of the funds in the program are spent on direct project costs with less than 10 percent spent on administrative needs. CWPPRA has constructed, is constructing or has developed plans to construct 78 projects over the last 15 years. Congress recently reauthorized funding for CWPPRA through 2019.

For more information, please click the following link to visit the CWPPRA homepage: http://www.lacoast.gov/