On March 10, the Amite River Basin Commission met for its regular meeting to hear updates on several parish-wide conservation and restoration projects — but ended the evening concerned about the legislative processes keeping many of those projects in an eternal planning phase.
The meeting opened with the introduction of three new members appointed through the Governor's office: Chris Knotts, James Fague, and Wade Evans.
Paul Sawyer, ARBC Chief Advisor, was first to address the commission with updates on several items.
Closing is projected within the next week or so for the St. Helena property project, following the state's approval to move forward. ARBC's project board began pursuing the development more than two years ago when it first sought funding to restore the upper Amite River area. According to Sawyer, additional projects are slated to follow once this one is officially complete.
ARBC also received natural resource conservation funding through Congresswoman Julia Letlow's office. The commission plans to model its conservation efforts after the Upper Delta Conservation Model, a successful initiative across the river. Additional NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service)-funded planning and design will allow future construction to be uniquely suited to each area rather than built on a one-size-fits-all framework.
"When we acquire these properties, each property has a different profile and a different composition so there will be no cookie-cutter approach to everything we acquire," Sawyer said. "We will have to look at each location and make a determination on how we are going to proceed."
The close relationship with NRCS creates a pipeline for future project funding, though Sawyer noted NRCS has not yet received any official funding. The partnership will also allow ARBC to take on a larger role in the overall process than past federal and government partners have permitted.
"We've been able to be very successful in achieving awards for grants because of our modeling and because of our ability to not just fill out numbers on a page but show actual success with the projects," Representative Wade Evans noted.
Sawyer then turned to the Comite River diversion canal project, reporting that "the last five contracts have been awarded, and they are in various stages of mobilization — but every project within the alignment of the Comite River diversion canal is underway through either construction or mobilization."
All new bridges previously proposed by ARBC have been completed with the exception of the Highway 19 bridge, which is approximately 20% complete and projected to finish by the end of the year or early next year.
Sawyer closed his remarks with an overview of several bills set to come before the legislature this session that would directly impact ARBC. Senate Bill 367 and House Bill 802 would establish a conservation fund in Louisiana financed through existing severance tax revenue, giving entities like ARBC access to regular and reliable funding. House Bill 899 would create an entirely new regulatory framework governing sand and gravel mining in Louisiana — a framework that does not currently exist — and could also affect the potential restoration of mining sites. House Bill 493, meanwhile, would seek to eliminate ARBC's expropriation authority in two unnamed parishes.
Garvin Pittman, representing The Water Institute which oversees The Watershed Initiative for the Amite River Basin project, then delivered a limited update on the project's progress.
ARBC President John Clark made clear he wants more substantive reporting from The Watershed Initiative going forward. "I want to get more updates on where they're at because when I look at all these projects it looks really good but what doesn't look good is the progress being made… we have 353 million dollars from the Louisiana Watershed Initiative and there's only 30 million dollars that's been spent."
Commissioner Clint Cointment was blunt in his frustration, saying "it is the most bureaucratic thing to just get a project started." He pointed to the Sorrento Pump Station expansion as a prime example: "We've had that design done for years but we can't get FEMA approval to go out for bids… this thing has been ready to go for years and it is a struggle at the different levels of government to get these projects going."
"I don't think the public understands… the system is built to slow these things down, and that's a fact," Cointment continued. "It's disheartening. It's troubling that we had this kind of money so that we could provide these kinds of solutions to protect the residents of our parishes and we go to work every day to fight the system to do it."
President Clark echoed the sentiment. "The process goes on and on even before you turn any dirt — it's despicable. Something has to change with this process."
