ST. MARTIN PARISH — Congress is advancing three federal spending bills that would send more than $350 million to Louisiana, with the largest share directed toward hurricane and flood protection. Of that amount, $137 million is set aside for the Morganza‑to‑the‑Gulf system, a regional network of levees, floodgates, and pumps designed to control storm surge across south‑central Louisiana.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy said the proposed funding aims to balance fiscal restraint with support for critical infrastructure. “So we’re saving money, but we’re still able to dedicate resources to things like Morganza‑to‑the‑Gulf, which help prevent flooding, devastation of people’s lives, and a greater expenditure on behalf of the federal government as we attempt to help communities recover,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy said the new round of congressional funding builds on efforts already underway. More than $378 million from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was approved for construction of the Morganza‑to‑the‑Gulf system.
“At this point, they’re still doing planning, permitting. They’ve got gates that they’re putting up so that they can open them when the water is calm and they can close them when there’s a big flood coming in,” Cassidy said.
The project’s goal is to stop storm surge from pushing through the Atchafalaya Basin and back up into inland communities, including parts of St. Mary and St. Martin parishes. “When you get high water in the Atchafalaya, you can actually get backflow… that goes back up and floods communities further inland,” Cassidy said. He added, “So this absolutely is part of the whole infrastructure to protect Saint Mary’s Parish, for example, going over to Lafourche and Terrebonne.”
The House of Representatives has already passed the spending bills, and the measures now go to the Senate, where lawmakers will decide whether this next phase of Morganza‑to‑the‑Gulf funding moves forward. “I’d like to think that we will again pass these. We spend less money on this bill than we did for similar bills last time,” Cassidy said.
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