On Sept. 25, the Council on Watershed Management unanimously approved the online posting of the state’s draft Action Plan for spending $1.2 billion in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation funds.

The draft Action Plan, which describes the state’s approach to funding projects, data collection, modeling and policy measures, aligns with the Louisiana Watershed Initiative's long-term resilience objectives.

The state is accepting public input on the draft Action Plan as it works to translate and post the document in Spanish, at which point the 45-day public comment period required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will begin.

"Public input is imperative to our efforts," Pat Forbes, executive director of the Office of Community Development, said. "It has and will continue to drive the planning process. We need insight from local government leaders, community members and technical professionals alike to ensure we are using these funds to implement the most impactful flood risk reduction measures for our state."

In an effort to gather additional feedback on the draft Action Plan, the state will host the following public hearings, which will be livestreamed on the Louisiana Watershed Initiative's Facebook page:

To request special accommodations for an upcoming hearing, email watershed@la.gov or call 225.219.9600. For more information, click here.