council on watershed management meeting · 8/8/2019 · • 2018 statewide listening tour report...

A U G U S T 8 , 2 0 1 9

Meeting No. 9

Council on Watershed

Management Meeting

W O R K I N G T O G E T H E R F O R S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y A N D R E S I L I E N C E L O U I S I A N A W A T E R S H E D I N I T I A T I V E 2

Public Comment


Consent Agenda Items


Opening Remarks


Old Business


Documents posted for public comment

D ATA & M O D E L I N G

• Ecological and Biological White Paper

• Water Quality Data White Paper (1)

• Conveyance and Hydraulic Structures White Paper

• Historical Flood Data White Paper

• Stream and Rain Gauge Data White Paper

• National Hydrography Dataset, National Hydrography

Dataset Plus, and 3D Elevation Program White Paper

• Data and Modeling Technical Advisory Group

Technical Support

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O U T R E A C H &

E N G A G E M E N T

• 2019 Outreach &

Engagement Plan (1)

• 2018 Statewide Listening

Tour Report (1)

P R O J E C T S

• Projects Evaluation and

Ranking Criteria (1)


Nomination of Officers


Provisional Watershed Regions


Proposed geographic

boundary considerations

Scientific data and models

Watershed-

based

planning

Existing

organizational

boundaries


Boundaries

under review

• Regional scale

• Support resiliency

initiatives

• Recognize levee districts

& population centers

• Reflect similar water

management challenges


• Reviewed with all 64 parishes,

355 total attendees, 120+

survey responses

• General support for

provisional delineation

• Some issues with the size of

regions

Boundaries

under review


“This is an important step towards

modern management and planning of

development across the state.”

“I support the delineation because they

accurately follow watersheds.”

“This follows the boundaries of the

watersheds in a way that makes

sense, while also creating regions that

are a reasonable size for planning.”

Feedback from

parish leaders

“Should include all of

the Mermentau River Basin.”

“Should include the

Sabine and

Calcasieu River

Basin”

“Don’t lump together

Northshore parishes with

the Southshore of Lake

Pontchartrain; their

drainage systems are

different.”


• Some lines are shifted based

on feedback

• New alignment maintains

regional management scale,

supports ongoing resilience

initiatives, existing levee

districts, and key population

centers

Provisional

recommendations 13

2

4

5

6 8

7


Regional Capacity Building Grant

Program


• Enable long-term regional watershed management framework

• Enhance the capacity of local floodplain management and mitigation efforts

• Develop, maintain, and utilize a regional watershed project list

Regional Capacity Building Grant

PROGRAM GOALS

2019 2020 2021 2022

NOFA

Steering Committee meeting series

Watershed Management Structures Established

Watershed Project Plans, Training, Outreach, and Local and Regional Capacity Building

Watershed Plans Created

H&H Model Use


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Notice of funding availability

RELEASE NOFA AND IMPLEMENT PROGRAM

SUMMARY: Fund watershed coordination activities in each region,

including establishment of steering committees, watershed coalitions,

and watershed project plans.

• $400,000 per region over three years (prior allocation for 2016

floods)

• Non-competitive

• Political subdivisions are eligible applicants


COORDINATION IS CRITICAL

• Only one application accepted per region

• Program design is flexible to fit regional needs

• Participation is a prerequisite to future LWI resources, including project funding


Solicitation

advertised

Webinar and

Q&A session

Applicant

briefing

Deadline for

written

inquiries

Phase I

Letter of

Interest due

Webinar and

Q&A session

Phase II

Application

deadline

8/22/19 9/16/198/15/19 9/20/19 10/11/19 10/30/19 12/13/19

Award

announcement

1/6/20

Important Dates

Note: Dates subject to change


Applicant Briefing

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

LaSalle Building – Griffon Room

617 N. Third Street, 1st floor

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Save

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Regional Steering Committee

Guidance


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Regional Steering Committee

Composition• Input from parish leadership, best

practices, and international water

management expert Henk Ovink

• One regional steering committee per

watershed region

• Membership diversity is key: government

representatives, technical experts, and

community representatives

• Additional guidance in NOFA


LiDAR Collection and Processing

Update


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Ongoing

LiDAR

Projects


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DOTD LiDAR Status


2019 Interstate Summit

Report-Out


Louisiana Watershed Initiative Listens

NEIGHBORING STATES COLLABORATING ON SHARED

WATERSHED CHALLENGES

JUNE 2019I N A U G U R A L I N T E R S TAT E S U M M I T

B O S S I E R C I T Y, L A

2 0 1 9 I N T E R S TAT E S U M M I T

attendees representing cities, parishes, counties and

state agencies in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi

and Texas, plus federal and private sector partners93


Key takeaways

• Interstate partners should participate

in regional watershed activities

• Need for increased communication

regarding federal policy changes

among states

• Need for more data and mapping of

rainfall and river levels across state

lines

• Shared interstate vision of greater

collaboration among regulators and

university extensions


Public Comment


Closing Remarks

@ L AWAT E R S H E D I N I T I AT I V E

@ L AWAT E R S H E D

WAT E R S H E D @ L A . G O V

WAT E R S H E D . L A . G O V

Thank

You