"In preparation for its recently received guidance on 1.2 billion in CDBG-MIT funding, the State of Louisiana has spent the last year building the foundational elements of the Louisiana Watershed Initiative; which was established by Gov. Edwards in 2018 to serve as a coordinated, interagency structure at the state level for watershed-based flood risk reduction efforts.

Initiative activities include:
The establishment of statewide regional watershed boundaries
The formation of regional steering committees
Facilitating procurement of hydrologic and hydraulic models that—together—will cover the entire state and provide both state and regional entities with the science and data to better understand and address their risk in coordination with anticipated CDBG-MIT project and planning development activities

Extensive outreach efforts (statewide, nationally, and internationally) were undertaken to inform this process and enhance next steps in program implementation. For example, a statewide Regional Capacity Building Grant Program was launched in August 2019 to incentivize formation of regional steering committees and to support anticipated local and regional efforts associated with watershed-level outreach, project design, and planning activities. Attend this session to learn more about the Louisiana Watershed Initiative’s long-term goals and next steps in program implementation from state staff and leading agency representatives."