The first matter I would like to address today is of paramount importance to us and that is the reauthorization of a truly landmark piece of legislation, the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act, or the Breaux Act, as we call it in Louisiana.
To understand the importance of the Breaux Act and its reauthorization, it is vital to understand the problem it was intended to address and that was the calamitous loss of coastal wetlands and barrier shorelines that are so vital to our national interest. The Breaux Act recognized two indisputable facts. First that these lands are essential to our ecological, cultural, and economic well being, and second, that regulatory and education programs alone are not sufficient to ensure their sustainability. In short, it recognized that an active coastal restoration campaign was essential. We strongly agree. Louisiana has 25% of the nation's coastal wetlands, 40% of its salt marshes, and has experienced 80% of this nation's coastal wetland loss.
The Breaux Act benefits all coastal states but I will focus my comments on its role in the survival and stewardship of the lower Mississippi River Delta Complex and the Chenier Plain. This includes all of coastal Louisiana south of Interstate 10.
Prior to the passage of the Breaux Act in 1990, coastal Louisiana was in a state of collapse. Worse, there was no realistic prospect of saving it. The legacy of decades of leveeing, dredging, and draining - often incident to federal policies and programs - was a coast in which the hydrology had been so altered that land was disappearing at a rate of nearly 40 square miles per year.
In 1989 the State of Louisiana took the unprecedented step of creating a multi-agency coastal wetlands restoration authority within the Governor's office and creating a dedicated trust fund to support its work. But the complexity and enormity of the challenge demanded a true national effort - state and federal - if the tide of land loss was to be stemmed.
With the enactment of the Breaux Act all of that changed. This Act forged a working partnership, not only between the state and the federal government, but also among federal agencies that had a long history of working at cross purposes. In its nine year history, the Breaux Act has been responsible for unprecedented partnering, comprehensive planning - most notably the recently completed Coast 2050 Plan - and the development and implementation of a generation of restoration and protection projects that have significantly reduced the rate of land loss.
This view is borne out by the following facts:
1) During the first eight years following enactment of the Breaux Act, the federal/state
restoration task force has approved about 85 projects. Approximately 60% of these projects have been completed or are under construction. The remainder of approved projects are in various stages of planning and design. These projects are expected to result in a 15% reduction in coastal land loss over the next twenty years.
2) The Breaux Act has created a working partnership between and among five federal agencies, the State of Louisiana, local governments, landowners, business, and interest groups.
3) It has garnered an extraordinary level of public support, as shown by the passage of two constitutional amendments facilitating coastal restoration.
4) It has spurred the development and dissemination of scientific and technical information
about the nature of the land loss problem and its potential solution.
5) It is responsible for the development of "Coast 2050," a blueprint for recreating a sustainable coast in fifty years that has had extraordinary success at achieving consensus at federal, state and local levels. A copy of the executive summary of this plan has been submitted for the record.
6) It has spawned a recently completed major feasibility study of restoring the system of barrier shorelines along the most threatened part of our coast.
7) The Breaux Act plans and partnership have been the bases for the State of Louisiana's recent commitment of significant additional funds to the restoration effort, to ensure the State's ability to be a true and effective partner with the Federal government.
8) This partnership has produced benefits that go far beyond simply developing coastal restoration projects. It has, for example, increased the effectiveness of all agency regulatory and resource management programs by focusing the agencies on a common set of goals and objectives for the coastal area.
Our initial small-scale river diversion projects are proving to be especially effective. We are currently awaiting the completion of a major feasibility study of diverting flow from the Mississippi River at a number of different sites into coastal marshes that are desperately in need of nourishment.
This history of success warrants extension. But as impressive as is its history, the true measure of the Breaux Act is much more than a list of milestones. The Breaux Act is best measured by the hope it has given and the foundation it has created. The Breaux Act has provided a true sense of collective responsibility for the stewardship of a vital national treasure. It is the foundation upon which all future work will build. It has worked well but it has much more work to do. The State of Louisiana and Governor Foster strongly urge you to allow this work to continue. It is vital to us ally Simply put, there is no substitute for reauthorizing this seminal piece of legislation.
In addition to the reauthorization of the Breaux Act, we would like to urge your support of the Estuary Habitat Restoration Partnership Act. This bill would authorize a program that would complement the Breaux Act and the National Estuary Program. It would authorize a nonregulatory competitive grant program that would broaden the partnering circle to include local governments, land owners and interest groups, as well as focusing on estuarine habitats of all types - wetlands, submerged grass beds, reefs and others. It is well conceived, implementable, cost effective and much needed.
Again, we thank you for inviting us to share our experience with the Committee and we would be pleased to offer any further assistance as you consider these and other matters.