Delta Dispatches 2.3 Full Audio
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Simone Maloz: Hello, you're listening to Delta Dispatches. Today we're discussing Louisiana's coast, its people, wildlife and jobs, and why restoring it matters. In today's episode, we're going to be talking to both Allie Olsonoski of the Environmental Defense Fund, and Katie Freer the assistant Administrator at the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority about the 2029 coastal Master Plan Allie, it's hard to believe that we're talking about something that's all the way in 2029, but here we are.
Allie Olsonoski: Yes.
Simone Maloz: So, thank you Allie. I have the pleasure of working with Allie every single day. Um, but Allie, why don't you introduce yourself to the folks that are listening to the podcast.
Maybe they're longtime listeners or maybe they're first time listeners. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and the work that you do at the Environmental Defense Fund?
Allie Olsonoski: Well, hello. I don't think I have to do introduce myself again. Thanks, Simone. Yes, I work for the Environmental Defense Fund. I work within [00:01:00] the coast and watersheds team. and we do work in Louisiana and all kind of up and down the East Coast, so Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey. But most of my work is in Louisiana and I've been here for now. Three years almost. And I'm housed in the projects and science area of the MRD, so I'm tasked with tracking all of our priority projects in the coalition which involves a lot. But it's exciting and I'm happy to come to work every day and do this.
Simone Maloz: Yeah, I think that's one of the things that we, want to accomplish with the podcast is that folks can understand our coalition a little bit better and the work that we do. And, it cannot be understated how much work our projects team does. And how many details they have to dive into from, you know, where a project is, when it might start.
Is it making [00:02:00] progress? You know, does it even have the right funding in place? Has costs gone up, et cetera. But really, Allie, that is all based on relationships. And we've had some wonderful relationships with some of the project managers at CPRA, Katie Freer being one of 'em. So, I think, I think that's one thing we hope.
To show what Delta dispatch is, is just how much we dive into the details. 'cause we want to make sure that these coastal projects are on track. So Allie, I, I do wanna, uh, ask a little fun question before we dive into the deeper details. You've been here for a little while. I know you did a stint at the Army Corps.
You've, you've studied abroad and et cetera, but what's your favorite place? In New Orleans or in Louisiana to unwind and recharge.
Allie Olsonoski: Well, I live very, very close to City Park and so you can find me there I feel like almost every single day, whether it be walking on the paths, in their, like [00:03:00] green areas in the middle of the park. But that's kind of my go-to area to like relax and recharge in the outdoors.
Simone Maloz: I love that it has so many little hidden corners and spaces. You know, just really, I don't, I don't wanna be cheesy, but it's such an amazing resource, that the city and Louisiana has right this this beautiful park right in the middle to do those things. I think it wasn't done without a real good plan in place.
Allie, I think that's something you can respect and appreciate is how important plans are. And so that wants to be, that should be the focus of this episode. And so because we do have new listeners, because we have folks that are tuning in after a little bit of a break why don't you tell us what is Louisiana's Coastal Master plan? Katie, you'll dive into some of those details too but for you, what is Louisiana's Coastal Master plan and and what does that mean for you?
Allie Olsonoski: [00:04:00] Yeah. Well, I think first to just set up some context around. Own the Coastal Master Plan. It's important to kind of go to the origins of the CPRA in general. In 2005, famously obviously we had these big storms, hurricanes, Rita and Katrina. And in the aftermath of that. Obviously understanding the loss of life, the loss of wetlands of businesses and homes, the state realized that there should be one singular entity essentially responsible for coordinating on hurricane protection.
So that's things like levees, flood walls, pumps, things like that but also coastal restoration because those things work together. And so out of that, I think it was at the end of 2005 CPRA, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority was created. And they were tasked again with dealing and thinking about how we [00:05:00] plan for. Environmental changes, storms into the future. And the answer to that was by and large, this coastal master plan, the first of which was put out in 2007 but they have had four iterations since then. So 2007, 20 12, 20 17, and the most recent of which is 2023 what the coastal master plan is. Is a planning document.
It's a framework that is informed by community input, expert input through advisory groups and experts all around the coast and even outside of the state. But it's backed by real science and real data that's been built from decades of really hard work, from really smart people. And it includes $50 billion worth and into 50 years into the future of really important projects that all work together to make our coast more sustainable and more resilient into the future.[00:06:00] 
Simone Maloz: Yeah, I mean Allie now is, as we are approaching those important anniversaries of 20 years since hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but we also just followed 15 years of deep water horizon. So having a plan like that in place was so important for kind of recreating Louisiana's future there by committing to the coast.
But it, it's also been something that other folks have looked to us as well as something they wanna model their own plans after. But let's get back to, you know, why. Is having a plan like that so important, because when we talk about your work on, our projects committee, when we get down to these individual projects, it has to start with a much bigger plan, right?
This bigger idea of larger projects that are more for the long term. So tell us why balancing that short term future versus long term [00:07:00] planning, even, you know balancing restoration and protection. Talk about why that's important to have in a tool like the Coastal Master Plan.
Allie Olsonoski: Yeah, of course. Well, we know obviously that our coast is in a crisis. We're losing a lot of land. Pretty quickly. And we will lose more land into the future if absolutely nothing is done, and that would be called a future without action. So no projects on the landscape. What does Louisiana look like in 50 years? Well, the master plan is this really amazing planning tool that, again, has a lot of science, a lot of models, a lot of data input into it, to arrive at a framework with plans and projects that do have a large scale impact all around the coast. So not just in one geographic area, but from southwest Louisiana, all the way to Southeast Louisiana and everywhere in between. and. It's funny you mentioned the [00:08:00] oil spill. Well, the oil spill following the lawsuits after that disaster and the subsequent payments that were received after all of these lawsuits coastal master plan was this incredible planning document that had essentially project ideas at the ready. And this makes, after receiving that funding, makes it a lot more efficient when you already have a whole suite of projects in hand to get those projects into implementation. And so in that way we have become a model for other states around the country that are looking to do coastal planning as well. And we have become kind of this really efficient machine and getting these really great project ideas, again, coming from community members, coming from people who have lived here their whole lives getting those into fruition through appropriating the right funding to the right projects to get built in areas that have the greatest need and will have the greatest impact for communities all around the state. And I'll just like really quickly [00:09:00] finish by saying what makes this plan very special is that we have different pieces that speak to different needs.
So there's the hurricane protection piece included in this plan are big structural projects like. Morganza to the Gulf, like ster around New Orleans, but also it has this really critical piece that, of course, restore the Mississippi River Delta MRD is very interested in. And that would be the restoration piece.
And all of these things work together to make communities more resilient having really healthy wetlands and marshes out in and around our state makes our structural features that much more resilient and sustainable in the face of hurricanes and storm surge and things like that. Surge and things like that.
Simone Maloz: Yeah, Allie, I think you can get lost in the details of a coastal master plan. We talk about models and metrics, et cetera, 'cause it is very, it's critical that that is based in science, but it's really two pieces of that. There's two other [00:10:00] pieces too. It is in so many ways an investment document on how we can get investors like the federal government to invest here in coastal Louisiana.
And as to demonstrate what that return on investment is, but it has people throughout the process and it has social economic information that's included. We talked to Charles Allen and Arthur Johnson last week and there's all these moments of places where community groups are engaged and you just said it, which is one of the reasons why we wanted to bring it up today, people can even submit their own projects for consideration into the master plan. And, and that's where we are today too. So why don't you talk a little bit about Mr. D's work in, we'll get to Katie. She can tell us more details about that project solicitation. But why don't you tell us from the coalition's point of view, what that public solicitation for [00:11:00] projects means, and then how MR D's gonna bring in the communities even further.
Allie Olsonoski: Yeah,
Simone Maloz: Yeah.
Allie Olsonoski: we right now are talking about the 2029 Coastal Master Plan. It's 2025. Why are we doing that? We are in the midst of the first project solicitation period. And what that means is right now there's an opportunity for community members to essentially propose project ideas that directly address, issues that they are facing in their communities, whether that be flooding rapid land loss in a certain area. And we see this as a really great opportunity for residents to get involved in this whole master planning process. One of MRDs pushes in the next month will be to put on our own round of workshops that compliment CPRA's great public meetings they ran in the month of August. We'll be in a few different areas of the state. Will be in Houma on September [00:12:00] 10th. , the North Shore on September 16th. And New Orleans East on September 18th. And what we hope to do during these workshops is invite community members into these spaces to learn more about the Coastal Master Plan, what it is, what the coastal program is, and how they can get involved. But more importantly and more pressingly again. We're in the midst of project solicitation, and so we hope that there are some residents that come in with big ideas to address issues they might be facing in their communities. We will have really smart technical people there to help refine some of some concepts into project ideas that are ready to be submitted into the CPRA, you know, submittal form online. And essentially, and most importantly, we just wanna be a, a free resource for folks who are looking to get involved into the master planning process in the coastal [00:13:00] program in general and we hope everyone stops by.
Simone Maloz: Well, yeah, Allie, I think that was well said. We were trying to be an extension of the C PRAs first round of community meetings. It's a long project solicitation period, so we wanna make sure we're meeting people where they're at and having those discussions. I think we certainly wanna talk about all ideas big ideas, small ideas they're all good ideas and how they fit into the kind of broader picture of Coastal. So we'll talk to Katie a little bit about what happens after a project is submitted or what makes a good project, those kinds of things. So right now we're encouraging those folks to continue to think about some solutions for their areas or even to identify challenges that we might not be able to see from our own points of view.
I think that's really interesting and critical to bring to the master plan team members as well. So, Allie, as we wrap up our time here together, thank [00:14:00] you for all that work. With, with all that you know about projects and all the kind of fine details of some of those things, what is one project or one initiative that you are really excited about and that you're looking forward to working on more in the next six months, year, two years?
Tell us a little bit something that you're looking forward to.
Allie Olsonoski: That is a great question. Well first of all, I'm really excited to be involved in these workshops we're putting on in September because I find that anytime I'm involved with. Meetings like this where we invite members of the public to bring their ideas. I learned something new about the coast, about where they come from about issues that they're facing. And so in that way, I feel like I get a more complete picture of what Louisiana is to so many people and what makes it such an important and beautiful state to live in. But I would say something I am looking [00:15:00] forward to beyond that, beyond the master planning team is really seeing, let's see. There's so many things. I track so many projects.
But, uh, the MRD is involved in the Corps and states big non-structural home elevation project in southwest Louisiana called the Southwest Coastal Project. , And we are very closely tracking, how that project gets implemented. We have just. Completed a social science research project that essentially we started to hear from residents how they are interacting with this great opportunity that's come up through this project to get their home elevated at no cost to the homeowner. and we're looking forward to continuing to work with both the, army Corps of Engineers and the state. To improve and make progress on their outreach and engagement regarding that project, and hopefully get more people signed up and to take [00:16:00] advantage of that opportunity.
Simone Maloz: Yeah, well said Allie, I think it's just such an interesting aspect of coastal risk right. In a ways that that individual homeowner. Can reduce their risk. And so I think it's really just interesting, you know, in, in the part of the world where I grew up elevating homes was, was not unusual.
But there's definitely other parts of the state that are seeing increased risk. And that's a way for them to be able to reduce the risk. But they have s. And they should have so many questions about how does it work, what does this mean? Because it is so individual and it is so specific. So it's so interesting that when we talk about a science-based master plan, we do talk about social science and that is a piece of the puzzle that fits into that.
So thank you for your work and that space to thank you for all those trips. To Southwest Louisiana. It's really important. I appreciate that. I know Katie's done her fair share of those as well. So, the coastal conversation is one that truly [00:17:00] goes from one border to the other. And so I think it's really important to understand that they're unique and that they face different challenges and that the most important thing is.
To keep talking about them and, and seeking these solutions. So. Well, thank you Allie for spending some time with me today. I very much appreciate it. Hopefully I'll let you get back to your work. You have projects to track and project managers to harass. And I have one of those former project just waiting on the line to talk.
So thank you Allie, for the important work that you're doing. I appreciate your time and hopefully. You'll get to meet some folks if not in City Park then in those workshops in September.
Allie Olsonoski: absolutely. Thanks Simone.
Simone Maloz: Thank you, Allie. So we've talked about her and she's been waiting around. So we want to get to our second guest.
Who is Katie Freer? She's the Assistant administrator at CPRA. We were gonna talk a little bit about how she got here from a project manager standpoint but as Ellie and I discussed, the [00:18:00] 2029 Coastal Master Plan is already underway, although that seems like so far away. The work has already begun, has been underway since the completion of the last plan.
So welcome to the show, Katie. Thank you for coming on.
Katie: Thanks so much for having me. I'm glad to be here.
Simone Maloz: I heard that you have been a lady on the go lately, so very much appreciate your time, you sitting in one place. And I know that's an important job of the master plan team leader , is the community conversations but also the regional work groups and so much work goes into that.
So thank you Katie for making time today.
Katie: yeah, this is really important i'm glad to be a part of it.
Simone Maloz: So we do like to get to know our guests a little bit. And so we asked Ally what her favorite spot is in Louisiana to, to unwind and recharge. And you cannot tell me the pool, watching your kids swim. That is not an option. I took that off the table.
Katie: Right. [00:19:00] I enjoy that, but I can't say that's how I
Simone Maloz: I bet you don't unwind a lot there.
Katie: No, not, not much. no. I think that my favorite place I've been to on the coast of Louisiana so far, and there, there are a lot. It's tough to pick just one, but I'd have to say pass Elute. So when you go down to Pass elute, I mean, it's like you're in a completely different world.
The wildlife, the scenery, getting to see some of, some projects that are actually like working. You can see them functioning in practice. And yeah, I just absolutely love it down there.
Simone Maloz: That's a great answer. Great answer. This is not this is unscripted, but as a project as a former recovering project manager you know, that must mean something to you to see something that you saw on paper that you worked very hard for come to life. I would imagine that was rewarding when you were a project manager.
Katie: It is incredible. It has been such an amazing experience to be able to work so hard with a team of really. Smart people from multiple organizations to [00:20:00] design a project to get it funded and then go out and watch it be constructed and then be able to walk on it. Or in the case of pass elute where we can see a lot of smaller projects that we've done and then we're working towards a vision for a much larger one to really even you know, take further advantage of the investments we've already made and then achieve much bigger things as well.
So it's fantastic.
Simone Maloz: So well said. And thank you for the easy transition to what you're working on today. We're talking about that vision, talking about that bigger plan. So Katie, in your words, what is the coastal master plan and why is it important? So we have folks that maybe listen in for the first time or maybe picking this up after a break away.
So, you know, what, what's your opening, what's your elevator? Pitch to folks on what is the coastal master plan and why it's important.
Katie: Sure. Well, I'm actually gonna back all the way up to Hurricane Katrina. So following Hurricane Katrina, we realized as a [00:21:00] state that we wanted to work together in a cohesive way to reduce our vulnerability to events like that happening again. So we wanted to reduce our storm surge based flood risk, and we also wanted to confront the land loss crisis that had been building, had been growing over the previous a hundred years.
And so the state formed the coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which is the single state entity with the authority to create that cohesive vision for us to all across the state, work towards those goals of reducing storm surge based flood risk, and reducing land loss, which is also tied to the flood risk. And so. the core of like what guides us, our agency and the state as a whole in achieving those two goals is the coastal master plan. So we are required to develop a coastal master plan. And update it every five to six years and get legislative approval for that plan. [00:22:00] And that plan identifies the projects that we think are the best investments to make, to achieve the goals of the plan of reducing the flood risk and reducing land loss.
And it's also to achieve our objectives, to help us retain the things about our coast that make it the place that, that we wanna live, that we wanna play, that we wanna continue to protect. So the, the Coastal Master Plan, it includes a list of projects that are our top priorities that have been vetted through our models tested, and are selected based on the science and the potential costs. And then it also serves as a tool to help people understand what the future might look like along the Louisiana Coast. So what could the future look like over the next 50 years if we don't take any further action? Or what can the future look like? If we do, if we build all of the projects that are included in the plan, how can it change what our future might look like and how we might be able to better thrive in place here [00:23:00] on the coast?
Simone Maloz: That's a really important point, Katie, that I, I had not really thought about. Probably in a very long time is that aspect of the plan. It's not just serving you up. This is all the information here. We spit it out. It's really a resource. It's a tool. It's a way to talk about you know, the future of these coastal communities where we do live and work and play.
I, you know, I hadn't thought about that in a really long time. That aspect of this is when we meet the challenges, these are the opportunities that we have. But you have to be honest about what the future looks like if you are not taking action and you have these risks.
And so I think that's really important and I think that is one of the reasons why we've seen folks rally around something like this for so long. Because I think it's built in trust in this like genuine conversation that's evolved and that's an important aspect of this plan too.
And so this is the fourth [00:24:00] master plan. And so like this documents ha things have happened in the past 20 years and, this documents had to evolve. So how would you address like this idea that the master plan evolves or changes over time yet sticks to those core goals and objectives?
Katie: Sure. Yeah, that's a really good question. So, the fact that early on in the master plan development cycles the folks who were working on it established the two really clear goals that keep us grounded, and keep us from creeping out and doing everything that needs to be done along the coast.
'cause there's so much that needs to be done. But our task is to focus on storm surge risk reduction and land loss reduction, and then. Also while we're doing that to try to make sure that we're benefiting the things that we value across the coast. There are always trade-offs. Of course with any project it might be good for some things and create additional challenges for others.
[00:25:00] But we try to find a mix of projects that balances those trade-offs across the coast so that we continue to have a rich, diverse ecosystem and just population, community, and, with , a working coast that is defined in an array of ways that can benefit into the future.
And I think I completely went off of what your question was there, but.
Simone Maloz: No, no. I think we're just talking about like how you know that is always been what the plan has been about. But it's had to kind of change. There's been first of all, just straight changes to the landscape, and things that have happened physically to Louisiana.
But there's also been really big modeling improvements and changes to technology. And we now, frankly, Katie, have 20 years of data and success or information under our belt. So the plan needs to grow too.
Katie: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. So our first plan our first master plan was adopted in 2007. And that was [00:26:00] a real quick turnaround from Hurricane Katrina just to get ourselves organized. So real quick, what are our highest priorities? And it started to define those goals and objectives that would keep us focused through the next several iterations of the plan. And then in 2012, that's when we really got to bring in some high-end modeling to help us really understand our potential futures and also how the projects might behave. We want this master plan to serve us for a 50 year time period, like we are thinking long-term when we're picking master plan projects.
We don't just want things that are gonna benefit us for a few years here and there. We need to confront this long-term challenge in a long-term way. And so that modeling that we introduced in 2012 really carried us leaps and bounds ahead into being able to select projects from a comprehensive science-based way. And then in 2017 and 2023, we were able to improve those models. So we were getting more [00:27:00] and more information about what was happening in the coast from observational data like from the crim system. And the science was continuing to improve. And so we were able to really improve the science behind our models with a number of different experts from both across the nation and within our state. then for 2029, what we're we get to do is we've already really developed the science very, very well. And so we're tweaking that a bit more to reflect anything new that we've learned over the last several years. But the big changes that we're making in our models is we're trying to make them quicker, more efficient. So still maintain the good science that grounds them, but make it so that we can run them quicker so that we can also. Serve them up to the public more proactively so that more people can ask questions of the models and that we can provide even more information from the models to the public, to [00:28:00] researchers, to parishes, other government agencies who might be able to use 'em to help better inform their decisions and their work. So that's the biggest thing that we're doing for the modeling side. It just trying to make it quicker and more available. But we're also able this time to incorporate lessons from implementing projects that use the Deepwater Horizon funds. So, for the 2023 plan, when we were finalizing that plan, we had already started a good number of the projects that used the Deep water horizon funds, which were at a much larger scale than we had ever been able to accomplish before. But now we've had the time to see how those projects are working, what it really means to build projects at the scale that we like to think of in the master plan. And so now we get to incorporate a lot of lessons from what, how we really implement those types of projects into the way that we select projects and the way that we understand projects, the way we cost [00:29:00] projects for evaluation. And so this time the plan is going to be able to reflect all of those lessons that we've learned in this period, which really is special in our coastal restoration and protection history.
Simone Maloz: Yeah. I wanna go back to something you said, kinda, in the first piece of that is like these kind of lagniappe resources that y'all are developing that are just really helpful to coastal communities. And I'm thinking very specifically if we talked about nuance flooding in the last master plan, and as a result of some of the work that came out of the master plan, you were able to spin off this additional resources in several communities that were facing you know, sunny day flooding. Right? And so I love that you were able to make that stretch but to provide like those la lagniappe pieces of additional information very specific to communities and frankly, some of the data that they needed and cared about in, in real time.
So I think that's, that was an important [00:30:00] aspect that we want to see continue and we hope. Picks up in, in the evolution of that as well. So, Katie I wanna talk about where we are right now on the plan. It is hard to believe. So somebody told me once that if you build a house, as soon as you finish building it, you know immediately what would you do different in your next house?
You know, you wouldn't put this bedroom so far away from there, et cetera. So I would imagine that the master plan team is very much like that as, as soon as the new one starts, you're already thinking about ways that you can improve or change it up a little bit. But today I wanna talk about the people and the plan and we could use these words like project solicitation, but what does that really mean, Katie?
And let's talk about how we bring and that you're already bringing people into the plan. But to kind of break down that kind of wonky term about project solicitation.
Katie: Sure. Absolutely. So right now what we're doing is we are reaching out to anyone in the state, or even beyond, [00:31:00] anyone who has an idea for how to reduce land loss or reduce storm surge based flood risk in a way that we aren't already doing they can submit a project idea to be able to accomplish those goals.
And. it'll go into the hopper. We will then screen the projects to make sure that they're a fit for our master plan. And then if they are, then they'll get evaluated in our models and they can potentially become master plan projects for the 2029 master plan. So this is the part of our process where the public can have the most direct input on the plan itself on what makes it into the plan. So we really look to communities. We look to folks with all kinds of expertise that doesn't have to be from, an engineering degree. It can just be from people who use the coast. People who spend time on the coast know how the water moves. certainly have ideas for how to make things better. [00:32:00] They can all, we want them all to submit project ideas right now during what we call the solicitation period. It means we're soliciting project ideas from the public.
Simone Maloz: So Katie y'all have made it so much in, again, that's something. That's evolved over time and that the state's gotten so much better about and that's just going to these communities and saying, we want to hear from you. But you of course have to we want you to submit it, but you've even made that easy.
Like you said, you don't have to have some kind of technical background. It's a worksheet essentially that you need to fill out and put down some basic ideas. And the advantage is that the master plan team will review that and give you feedback, right? That's the important point about submitting those ideas right now is that you could say, okay, well we, could you help us understand this matter? We think the water might move this way, but you say it might move that way. So that's really critical too, to have that feedback as [00:33:00] well. So , that's the good thing about being this early in the process, is that they can be evaluated, they can be looked at but there can be some questions asked and some we can talk about it a little more.
Is that fair to say?
Katie: Yes, a hundred percent. That's very fair to say. Yes. So number one, if somebody submits a project idea and we just think it's not a fit, like it, it doesn't check the boxes that we need to be within the scope of the master plan or to achieve the goals of the master plan, then we will send feedback to you and tell you why.
We might even make some suggestions for how you might revise it to get it into the master plan. Or we might say, you know what? The master plan's not the right place for this project. We recommend you go check out this other area or something like
Simone Maloz: Go see our friends at DTD or DNR for that idea, right?
Katie: Exactly. But then for the projects that do fit our scope we are gonna look at like one individual project together with other projects in the area. And we're [00:34:00] gonna see like maybe there's a way that if we combine these two projects, we can reduce the cost and achieve better goals achieve more of our goals. And so there are additional edits that we might make to projects during the process to increase the performance so that we can benefit even more potentially from them before we model the projects to really quantify their potential benefits. So there's gonna be some of that going on as well. And yes, when we need to, there will be a back and forth, checking to make sure if we do this, does this still work in this bayou that you're talking about? You know.
Simone Maloz: Yeah. So Katie, it's so interesting, that this feedback part 'cause it is important. 'cause it's like, that is a good idea, but I think that's better suited for this or, that seems more fitting on a parish level to do this. Maybe watershed or, something like that might be more appropriate because I think that's necessary in this sometimes complicated coastal world that it's like, okay well, the [00:35:00] it's not that we're telling you no, it's just saying that this is what the master plan is considering and that there's a different venue or vehicle for that as well too. So, to wrap it up, Katie, I wanna talk about where we are in the process and kind of timeline moving forward.
And so you've had these initial public meetings, you're having good conversations. You have these layers of regional work groups and a community engagement group that you're talking to often. So you have those different layers. We are gonna go out because of the long solicitation period.
We're gonna go out restore Mississippi River delta is gonna go out again as Ali mentioned in September. 'cause there's still time to put the ideas on paper to get that feedback. And then the project solicitation will close in October?
Katie: Yes, October 17th
Simone Maloz: Okay.
Katie: So we want all the projects
Simone Maloz: I.
Katie: submitted before then.
Simone Maloz: Yes. And then you'll do that analysis and give feedback, but that's not the only bite of the apple.
So there, there'll will be another solicitation period in the spring, [00:36:00] but because time is getting short, you wouldn't have that evaluation process so sooner rather than later.
Katie: Right, right. We would still be evaluating the projects that come in the spring, but we won't have the time to be able to provide feedback and let you revise it and resubmit it if that's appropriate. So unfortunately, you know, I, I wish we could offer it both times. I really do. But we're gonna have to
Simone Maloz: You have work to do.
Katie: modeling.
Simone Maloz: You have $50 billion or 50 years worth of work to do, Katie? So that's why we wanna encourage folks to make sure that they're getting their project ideas, at least starting to talk about them and so we can get there. Y'all have done such a good job of putting some resources together.
Can you share where folks might be able to find that right now if they wanted to dive into that very specifically?
Katie: Absolutely. So if you go to the C PRA website, which is coastal.la.gov, and from there you can navigate to our plan and then the 2029 coastal Master Plan. And on that [00:37:00] page, you're gonna find a slew of information to help support anybody who wants to participate in this process. So we've got some videos there where we walk through some slide presentations explaining the process and what to think about.
If you're developing a project, we've got a link to the online submission form that you would use when you're ready to submit a project idea. And then we have a lot of background information explaining how we are going to screen the projects, how we're gonna evaluate the projects, and how to think about the different project types and the ways that each project type can help address the master plan goals and other things that you should think about when you think about what types of projects might help address the challenge that you are identifying that you wanna confront with your project idea. So we have a ton of information on there. We also have the opportunity to sign up for online office hours. So virtual office hours if you weren't able to make it to the in-person workshops to talk to [00:38:00] us face to face. And if you can't go to the ones that MRD is gonna be putting on which are an excellent opportunity as well to sit down with somebody, we can meet online.
And you can sign up to for a slot to meet with us online there as well. We're calling those virtual office hours.
Simone Maloz: I love that. I love that. Very back to school-ish, right? For all those folks that are starting school, when your professor used to have online or office hours, right? You could go see them and talk about the projects. Well, thank you Katie. I teased you a little bit about being on the road and being very, very busy.
I know that this is important work. I know that it's, probably refreshing to get out and be out and about it, but then, there's some serious work to come back to. Do you have an excellent team behind you in the master plan team? And so I, I love that y'all are a nice unit, rolling into 2029.
So thank you for your time today. You have a meeting this [00:39:00] afternoon, I know in the New Orleans area. So more work to do for sure. Well thank you Katie for coming on. Just a reminder where those resources can be found. It's at coastal.la.gov under our plan. Ali mentioned earlier that we will be hosting some of those community meetings.
Looks for that on our socials. And also you can find some of that information on Mississippi River. delta.org. So another great show under my belt here. I guess we're just cruising right along, talking about important subjects and why people should care about it and how they fit into Coastal Louisiana's future.
So thank you for listening today to Delta Dispatches. We'll be back in the next week with a new episode. We look forward to that. So see you later. Alligator.