Highlight: Local, State and Federal Agencies Coming Together on New Regional Watershed Approach

State of Louisiana

EDA joined federal, state and non-profit partners at the Louisiana Resilient Recovery program’s kick-off meeting this August in Lafayette.

Coordinated by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and supported by FEMA and the National Disaster Recovery Framework, the program focuses on flood mitigation.

During this meeting, it was agreed that the three most affected regions of the 23 Louisiana watersheds will take a regional rather than local approach for the first time to reduce risk from flooding. The first coordinated effort is underway in the Vermillion river watershed in Louisiana’s Acadiana region. At the request of state and regional officials, the Economic Recovery Support Function (ERSF) is supporting this effort by developing a model to project the impact of public investments in resilience efforts, particularly in terms of mitigating the economic impact such disasters.

Additionally, to support longer-term economic disaster recovery in the state, EDA’s Austin Regional Office provided grants to fund five Regional Economic Disaster Recovery Managers (REDRMs) in the impacted areas, with the State of Louisiana providing 20 percent match funding.

The implementation of recovery and resilience efforts of the REDRMs will be coordinated through EDA, the local Economic Development Districts (EDDs), and the State of Louisiana.