News Release

Basin Program Online at DNR has new look and info

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources has overhauled and re-launched its Atchafalaya Basin Program website giving it a new look with new tools, making it a more valuable resource for using and learning about the Basin.

The redesign of the site - available online at http://dnr.louisiana.gov/atchafalaya -was spurred in part by the new and proposed changes to the way Basin projects are developed, chosen, and funded.

The site design not only includes new visual elements that better reflect the unique character of the Basin, but has functions that make the site of good use to people working, fishing or exploring the Basin.

One of the new features of the site is the inclusion of a link to the U.S. Geological Survey’s web-based tracking of water levels in the basin. Along with water levels, the site also has up-to-date weather for points in and around the Basin area.

The new look of the site also includes links to parishes and tourism groups with ties to the Basin area and links to sportsman’s web sites.

As additional work is done to the web site, it will be the location to find notices of meetings important to the Basin, such as the Atchafalaya Basin Research and Promotion Board’s regular meetings and the upcoming mid-October series of public meetings to allow citizens and groups to review existing projects and offer new project ideas to improve water quality and reduce sediment in the Atchafalaya Basin.

The public meetings are part of the newly established process for ecosystem restoration in the Basin, including new elements of transparency in planning and efficiency in developing water quality improvement and sediment reduction projects.

The number and size of projects, as well as the length of time needed for completion, will depend on funding – which could be boosted if state voters approve Constitutional Amendment No. 4, re-directing up to $10 million in funds from existing state severance taxes per year to basin projects. The amendment would neither create a new tax nor raise any existing taxes.

The meetings will be held on Oct. 14, Oct. 15, and Oct. 16 at the following locations:

Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 6 p.m.
City of Morgan City Auditorium
728 Myrtle St.
Morgan City

Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m.
Iberville Parish Council Chambers
58050 Meriam St.
Plaquemine

Thursday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m.
Town of Henderson Recreation Building
1015 Park Ave. (Amy Street)
Henderson

All members of the public are invited to bring project ideas up for consideration by the Basin’s Technical Advisory Group, which will go on to accept project nominations, verify the need and evaluate the benefits of potential projects before submitting a project list to the Atchafalaya Basin Program Research and Promotion Board for inclusion in the Atchafalaya Basin annual project plan.

The Basin board will submit a draft of its annual plan to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which will check the plan for consistency with the state’s Master Plan for Coastal Restoration.

Constitutional Amendment No. 4 would, in part, re-direct up to $10 million a year in existing severance tax dollars from state-owned land in the Basin to pay for projects through the Basin conservation fund. If passed, the amendment would require that 85 percent of that money go to pay for water quality and sediment reduction projects within the guide levees. The other 15 percent could be used for projects to enhance recreation, tourism and other projects consisted with the master plan for the Basin.