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Hello, you're listening to Delta Dispatches. We're discussing Louisiana's coast, its people, wildlife and jobs. And why restoring it matters. I'm your host, Simone Maloz campaign director for Restore the Mississippi River Delta. You can find all of our podcast episodes@deltadispatches.org and be sure to subscribe to the show on Apple, Google, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast.

Before we get started with the conversation today, I want to take a moment to reflect on the devastation and legacy of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we're gonna spend most of this conversation talking about the impact of the storms and how it shaped our coast in literal and figurative ways, but let us not look past the human toll that the storms took on August 29th.

2005, hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Mississippi and Louisiana coast ultimately leading to the death of more than 1800 people and damages of more than $108 billion across the Gulf Coast. On September 24th, just a few weeks later, hurricane Rita made landfall along the Texas and Louisiana coastline.

As many as [00:01:30] 120 people died in the aftermath of that storm with another $18.5 billion in damages. We wanna take a moment to reflect on those who lost their lives in homes 20 years ago.

Another way that we can honor the legacy of what hurricanes Katrina and Rita taught us in those valuable lessons is to talk to those strong voices that have come in the decades after the storm. Our first guest is Jessica Dandridge, who's the executive director of the New Orleans Water Collaborative, a water justice organization that's preparing to host NOLA Water Week.

Hi Jessica. Welcome to the show. Hi, Simone. Thank you so much for having me and talking about this very important subject. You're no stranger to podcast, but we will get into that. We'll get into that. Why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and the work that you do.

Of course.

I think you did a great job of already starting off the conversation about me, Simone, but, I'm currently the executive director of the Water Collaborative of Great New Orleans, and we're a local based 5 0 1 C3, focusing on building community driven policy solutions to actualize waters, human rights, and a climate unstable world.

We are very, local based, but we work at the state and federal levels and in terms of myself, I'm born and raised in New Orleans. Uh, I like to joke though by way of Lafayette because my family is all from, uh, St. Martin and, and Acadiana parishes. Um, but the reality is, is [00:03:00] that my family has gone through a multitude of hurricanes, uh, flooding events.

But, during Hurricane Katrina, my entire family, was impacted. But before that we have a long legacy here. My, I like to joke, I'm so New Orleans that my, my great-grandmother worked at Crystal Hot Sauce for 40 years. And that's my, that's, that just gives you a sense of how, how New Orleans is.

That's your legacy. Yeah, yeah. Like that. Your papers. Yeah, that's my papers. Yeah. So, uh, Jessica, we covered your, your Katrina story just a little bit. Um, so you left after the storm. Okay. So I guess let's cover this too. It was your birthday. It was an important birthday for you. I have the best birthday ever, Simone.

It's August 30th, so it's technically the next day, I guess, after the storm made landfall.

It all runs together. Anyway, Jessica, it all runs together.

I don't think it really matters at this point. It's like, but I, I do, I always joke, I said, it's kind of like the day that the levees broke, which is the worst day, I guess.

So, yeah, I got the best birthday on the planet. Yeah.

So let's bring it back to the work that you're doing today. Right. I think this idea that we grew up here and we have this history here certainly contributes to the work that we're doing today. Even though, those events were 20 years ago it feels like we probably wouldn't be doing the work that we, you and I are both doing today without.

Those events and those lessons learned. So I'm very excited and something that we wanna focus [00:04:30] on in a positive way is this idea of Nola Water Week. And this is something that y'all been wanting to do for a long time. So tell us a little bit about how this kind of came about and then why is now a good time, in this kind of milestone anniversary, why talk about why this is a, a great time to acknowledge Nola Water Week.

Yeah, I'm, it is actually came about from multiple directions. So I, a little bit about my story to kind of, uh, in spring US forward. I started out as a youth organizer after Katrina, so. After I hit on my birthday, I came back to the city roughly five months afterwards, and like a lot of teenagers, I was confused, I was angry, I was sad.

And my mom said I needed to do something with all that energy. So I have been focusing on Katrina recovery most of my life. I'm 36. I'll be 36 by the time Katrina, anniversary hits and pretty much 20 years has been dedicated. To this story, and I personally wanted to, to move us away from the practice of like revisionist history to trauma bonding as a millennia we always trauma bond, right?

But also trauma dumping, right? I think we spend a lot of time thinking about what happened. We've, I feel as though , we've digested a lot of that, but we haven't talked about the future much. Um, and what does it mean to rebuild New Orleans in a way that is healthy, that is proactive, that is focused on the realities and [00:06:00] challenges that we're going to experience.

And then in terms of NOLA Water Week, my thought behind it, the theme is called Veritas, which is actually a Latin word. And as a multi-generational Catholic, I thought how better than to introduce this concept of the healing power of green, because I think we as a city have become less green, become less focused on the environment, and we've been less focused on healing, right?

There's a lot of anger, apathy, distrust, and resentment since Katrina. And we need to refocus on that. And the last thing I'll say is that I don't feel as though most of the conversations around Katrina are focused on water. They're focused on government and the lack of response at the all levels.

They're focused on housing or the lack thereof. Now they're focused on education, quite a few different things, healthcare, but they're not focused on water as a whole. And what I mean by water. Our disappearing coastline and the vulnerability that New Orleans and the greater New Orleans area will have, as well as the challenges within the levee system, right?

Our pumping system, and its inability to live in the next 300 years and live with the realities of rain events and so on. So I wanted to uplift water not only as a concern, but also as a tool for healing and building connection. So sorry for a long-winded answer, Simone, but it was a lot of layers behind this.

And again, we've tried to launch this for five years, so I had a lot of time to think about it, I guess.

It's so well said, Jessica. I hope you know that you challenge the way that I think [00:07:30] about water, right. Spend most of my days, all of my days talking about the coast and coastal restoration.

And occasionally I get opportunities to talk about New Orleans as a coastal city, but you challenge me to think about it more and differently, and I love that in terms of water in the city and urban water and not just this kind of coastal threat, but that New Orleans sees it from all those different angles.

So thank you for making me think about it. Um, and thank you for, for spending most of your career on that.

So Jessica, in one of the promotional videos about the event, you spoke about water week, creating this community and building through the trauma, and that's such a beautiful and powerful sentiment. So you talked a little bit about how you approached building the week and that you've been thinking about it for a long time, but.

If people could just take one thing away from Nola Water Week, what's that key message or what is that thing about maybe the water collaborative? What would that one thing be?

Yeah, I think the one thing is about bridge building. I don't think much of the work with Katrina is not about building bridges.

Um, it's about more so people wanting to, to talk about the trauma that they have, but also assigning blame. And also as a local, I actually see, especially right now, al always in the month of August, people start pointing fingers like, this person did this, and I blame this president, and this governor, and this mayor, [00:09:00] and also this idea that New Orleans is not worthy anymore, right?

Or this idea that it's not beautiful. Anymore. And I think the goal that I have is to push back on this narrative is that especially when I've lived in other places, cities change all the time. And unfortunately our change was put upon us. It wasn't something that we asked for, but it was inevitable that it would change at some point.

So if we're, if it's going to change, let's take the bull by the. Let's con, let's be a part of that conversation versus being passerbys, pointing fingers, and like armchair quarterbacks, right? Basically, as people say. And that's my goal is for us to be a bridge builder between transplants and locals, between community climate.

And sustainable future folks, right? There's a whole sector of people in that and the people who aren't right. Working class people, service industry people. The goal is for everyone to be a part of this conversation no matter where you live, no matter where you fit into the New Orleans society or community, that there is a place for you.

Jessica, you experienced Hurricane Katrina while you were a teenager. It shaped your life, like, kind of fast forward these 20 years later. What do you think about this next generation and, and what do you think that they're taking away, if anything, about these tough lessons that we learned after Hurricane Katrina?

Do they, do they know what it was? Do they know how hard it was? Or do you think that they're living with the outcomes of that? I'm, I just wanted to, I was just trying to think [00:10:30] about like, you teenage Jessica and what does the modern day teenage Jessica look like? What does she know? What does she care about, um, living in this coastal city?

Yeah, I think I love that question, Simone. One thing that I tell to myself all the time is that I am in a constant state of practice. And I think I'm in a constant state of practice because I've lived through Katrina, right? I had to live through consistent and constant change. It was always a new normal, right? That idea that, oh, there's a new normal with my new normal was at 16 and on ongoing. So I think young people today are very accustomed to living through consistent change. You know, Simone, I joke as a millennial, we joke, right? I had nine 11, I had Katrina, I have the war in Afghanistan.

We've had the, you know, uh. 20 2009, economic collapse, Obama, you can go down the list. So I've never known consistency, and that means that I have to be adaptable, I have to be responsive, but I also need to understand and learn better, learn how to better create boundaries, right? You know, not always having to engage.

If it's not necessary, it's at the end of the day. What I learned about Katrina is that our people of Louisiana don't do a good job of putting our mental health first. Because we are so community oriented, we wanna save everybody. And I have one of my board members during Hurricane Ida and also one of my best friends, I remember she was so exhausted for Hurricane Ida, she almost passed out.

And I [00:12:00] said, you have to put yourself first. And then eventually she had like a nervous breakdown and started, uh, crying and really had a hard time. But it was because we as a people were so linked. We are so accustomed to government failure, especially around climate and hurricanes, that we do our best to be, there for one another.

But it's like putting your mask on first, the old saying. So I believe that young people today and me today as well. We're learning how to put our mask on first, but we also are learning how to live through a variety of different circumstances in a world where maybe government hasn't improved all that much, but everything else has improved, right?

Social media, technology, communications, and so how do we live in a world where we can talk to one another about these things? On the flip side, I think, and I'll clo in closing on this part, I'll say we're maybe a little less empathetic. There's so much, trauma pouring out there. Every time you turn on your phone, I see something negative and I'm forced to grapple with that.

That means that we also don't care as much as we used to , I think a lot about that. We are the World song with Michael Jackson. I was watching that documentary and I'm like, man, that was, that happened because a bunch of celebrities weren't so trauma induced that they felt the need to do something big.

Um, and because of the world we live in today, no one feels the need because we've been desensitized. So I think that's the flip side of that.[00:13:30] 

Yeah. It just seems like sometimes words like anxiety or stress just not good enough to cover it. Right. You know? And, and so when, when I think about the kids growing up in New Orleans right now, do you think that they really understand what living with water means?

Do you think it means something different to them because of what happened during Hurricane Katrina and Rita. The lessons that we learned and the response or lack of response. Do you think the kids in New Orleans today have a different understanding of living with water?

Absolutely. I think. Nothing's really changed in New Orleans since I was a kid. The city hasn't done a great job at communicating what living with water means. Um, and so, and that's a, that's caused by a variety of problems from the dismantle public education system.

So every school has its own mission and thus its mission drives what they teach. But also, we have a system of people who live behind 20 foot walls. I grew up right behind the London Avenue Canal, and I never knew what the canal was, Simone, until Katrina happened. And then my dad's like, oh yeah.

That fell and now my house is flooded. I'm like, oh, there was water back there. Yeah. I just never knew what it was for. And so for children growing up, unless someone teaches them that, they're not going to know because the city doesn't talk about it. What they do talk about is pumps, right?

And this, this false sense of security of saying that we are, even though we're a coastal city, we've managed to [00:15:00] stay, a hundred percent dry all the time. I would also add to that, that I think there again to the, my early point young people today. When it comes to government or more apathetic and more distrusting of government because of the stories that they've been told, right?

So even if they didn't live with Katrina, maybe they were one or two years old, the stories that their parents say is, like, for instance, Simone, that they, I still hear people talk about this, is that people blew the levee. And I have to constantly tell people, like, let's use logic here, right? That the logic is that, you know, the levee system broke in 50 different places and, and it wasn't just black neighborhoods, it was white, it was working class.

But you know what? Because people in Louisiana stay here for generations and we are storytellers by nature. The stories of, for instance, the great flood of 1927 when they did blow the levees in carnarvon, that lives in people's memory forever. Right, or even how enslaved people or people who were in prison systems have to build levees.

All of those things mean that there's a lasting memory of distrust. And so if we're going to, break that distrust at some point and that apathy, we have to start having honest conversations with our young people, but also giving them hope, hope through action to say it's not all is not lost. The city is still going to be here.

It's just going to look different. You need to be a part of what this different city looks like [00:16:30] and be a part of the planning and the engagement around that. Otherwise, yeah, we will lose our young people I think.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's a perfect segue to another question I was gonna ask you while you were talking.

I was just thinking about it. You cannot do the work that you do without having hope. What, what gives you hope in the work that you do?

Yeah. I think right now it changes because of the state of everything. But I think, what gives me hope is, our city's culture bearers and our artists. Right now, they're the only ones telling the story as we see it and as we know it and it's also the only people that are how would I put it?

They're the only ones creating a transparent, uh, platform for everybody to engage with. And I'll be really brief in my two examples. We have an artist collective called Brackish. And we have a cohort every year of new artists. And so one artist from this year's cohort had, an art showcase just last week.

And it was all about water and our relationship with water. And I got teary-eyed a little bit. I wasn't able to go, but just the thought. Swelled my heart because it allowed me to realize that the work that we did with this particular person helped inspire them. And now he's inspiring hundreds of people.

And then I also thought about another artist. He's become really popular. He's always been popular, but he's, lately he's been doing this thing called Reset and Sunset. Where he has like a community healing set, you know, where he DJs and he has sunflowers and watermelons and it's free [00:18:00] and it's just about community.

And I, they had one this past Sunday and I passed by. I didn't go in because I had a lot of other things to do, but just to see they had Simone, I would say maybe at least 600 people out there and that inspires me to know that these artists have learned just a sprinkle of things from me. Have taken the bull by the horns and they're now inspiring hundreds and thousands of people in New Orleans who need that to be poured into.

So right now it's our culture bearers that are carrying the torch of taking the lessons that we are teaching as climate and water activists in Louisiana and giving it life and breathing fresh air into the work. I'm grateful for the Water Collaborative from giving, for giving them that platform.

I love that. That's a totally different facet of the work that you do is to think about the culture and the art of what's also happening. Jessica, you have to be hopeful about water Week, I hope. So something that, that you've been thinking about for a long time, can you just walk us through some of the events of Water, wheat Water Week and then how our listeners can learn more?

Of course. Yeah. And of course only water week is like our big hope, right? It's like the long-term hope. The big hope. Yep. It's the bridge builder and actually a lot of the artists that I talked about are involved with it. We have an event every single day of the week. It's just one event and it's, again, built on healing, but also community action and creation of just new communities.

Um, I'll highlight maybe a, maybe two or three [00:19:30] because there are a lot of them, but one I'm definitely excited about our green Connections. Speed dating, uh, which is interesting. It's about helping teachers meet climate orgs that provide educational experiences for their young people. I kept hearing on the ground that, Hey, I don't know who does this, and vice versa.

Hey, I'm looking for teachers. I'm like, well, let me be a matchmaker here. Yeah. Not a love connection, but an educational connection. That might be next. That might be Next Water Week. Call. Love Connection, right next. Love. Help the climate activists meet their love of their lives, but in the meantime, at least they can meet their educational loves.

So that one is gonna be really fun. And we have a fireside chat with Addre Kelly of the Director of Black Education, NOLA, to kind of kick off the moment. Second, I would say is, uh, speaking of podcasts, our Don't Water Down Podcast is live, event at Common House. Uh, and our. One of the artists that I mentioned are Risa in Sunset, NSBE Phipps is gonna be, he's one of our main hosts as well as, um, Ryan Gilbert, AKA Phlegm, who's a teacher, but also a DJ by night.

And, um, we have an a special guest, Bobby, with Black Girl Environmentalist. So this is gonna be really fun. We're gonna be talking about this similar subject, Simone, talking about levies and thinking about how we can move forward as a community. And then our last special event is Watermelon Fest. It's gonna be the first annual

wait, but Jessica, you gotta say it with. Water. Melon Fest,

water Melon Fest. I am [00:21:00] so excited about it. We are partnered with Ruby Slipper to create something where we're connecting with farmers that do basically plant watermelons. We're gonna have art exhibitions, themes, food games. We're gonna have a watermelon tournament, Simone, so you need to come, we're gonna have a speed spitting.

Oh, Jessica, you don't know. I contest, I sell at watermelon tournaments.

We're gonna have a watermelon tournament, uh, with fun prizes. It's gonna be really fun and cute. And I think it's about the Watermelon Fest is interesting 'cause we wanted to end on a positive note. We had a heavy week. Lots of people are doing lots of events and on some really heavy topics, but we needed to find joy.

It's always important to land on joy, and that's what we wanted to do. So, yeah, it's gonna be a really great week. You can find out more information on our website. You can literally just go to nola water week.org. Um, and it's already on our homepage. Or you can actually go to evenbrite, and type in NOLA Water Week.

And again, all of our events will pop up. Every event is free and open to the public. Some of them, uh, also have food involved. So if you're looking for a free meal, hey, I'm not mad at it. I know I was a college student, so if that means you learn something while you eat your free sandwich, I'm okay with that.

Yeah there's something for everybody and that, that was the point. So, yeah, hope to see you there.

So Jessica, just a reminder that if you wanna go to Jessica's belated birthday celebrations, at the Water Melon Festival at the Mid City Ruby Slipper, right? I think, um, or even can folks attend the, um, don't water it down recording or all [00:22:30] of that will be on NOLA water week.org and through event break.

Yes, all of them will be on Nola Warwick. You can RSVP for every single one of these events. Common House, I believe has an age restriction, but none, none of the other events do. Um, the, the live podcast recording again, is open to the public , you can RSVP on our website and then if you do that, you can get in for free.

Um, 'cause Common House is like a private. Event space, I guess. But, um, and then watermelon, that will be at the Broad Street location. Um, it'll be, if you know that area, it's right on the inside, uh, uh, on Broad. And they have a giant yard that we're gonna be taking over. It'll be a giant watermelon patch, Simone.

So, like, you can, I'm, I'm your,

I actually have to leave now for my watermelon tournament practice, very soon. Jessica. Okay, so wait. If folks wanna know about the year round work of the water collaborative because you work year round, um, tell us where they can find more information about that.

Yeah, of course. Again, go to our website. But also people love our Instagram. It's very popular, so you can go to Nola Water, um, on Instagram. And also our LinkedIn is pretty popular as well, uh, at the water collaborative. So, and we also have a really popular newsletter, so if you go on our website, you can also sign up for our newsletter.

Um, and people definitely check it out, not just for our events, but events going on around the city. So yeah, there's multiple ways for you to connect with us, literally Google Water Collaborative and all of our ways. To link with us is, can be available and easily accessible. So we hope for you to join our community.

We're [00:24:00] excited. Yeah.

Well that makes it really easy. Just Google 'em, the water collaborative. Very easy. Just Google us. Jessica, thank you so much for being a guest on the show. I can't wait to see you a lot next week. I'm happy to be part of some of your events and some of the things that we are doing that you've given us a platform to talk about, um, some coastal reflections and how, we're still looking at restoration initiatives that need to be completed all these years later. So thank you for helping us with that platform and offering that. As a reminder to the listeners, you can learn more about the Water collaborative, just Google 'em and everything happening with Water Week at NOLA Water dot. Org and at NOLA Water on most social media platforms. We're gonna take a short break and we'll be back with Delta Dispatches with the former chair of the CPRA board, Ms. Sidney Coffee.

So in the second half of today's episode, we're going to speak with Sidney Coffee, who led Coastal Policy for Governor Blanco in 2005, and played an instrumental role in forming the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority as we now know it today.

And you were the first chair [00:25:30] of the CPRA board. Welcome back to the show, Sidnee. How are you?

Thank you, Simone. I'm doing well. Doing well?

will, we'll

Yes. Um, yeah, I cannot believe.

I know, right? why don't you tell, why don't you introduce yourself to folks, and then I wanna get into of CPRA. don't you start off about telling us a little bit about yourself.

Okay. Yeah. Well, I've, I've been working on coastal issues since about 1998. I started under, governor Mike Foster. I did most of my work at that time in Washington. In fact, I was in Washington halftime during that period of time working on revenue sharing authorization for the LCA, I mean, all that.

So, um, that's, you know, that those were my earliest days with everything. And then under Blanco. I became the head of her, uh, coastal office governor's office of Coastal Activities, I should say. and then Katrina hit and everything started changing.

Although we already knew before Katrina that our coastal program had to be more comprehensive, had to be bigger. You know, everything on a scale to match the problem, and then [00:27:00] we, you know, we went from there. But yeah, it, um, you know, before that Simone, and you, and you of course noticed were a little bit piecemeal.

You know, it was one little project here, one little project there. we spent, and I think I can say this. Absolutely. Truthfully, we spent 20 years taking the politics out of coastal and making sure that the science was what was leading the coastal program. It's not that way today.

what, you know, when I think about your early days, and certainly Katrina and, and Rita, right? That, and to have those two things happen back to back like that in, in this terms of like this catalytic event. Sidney, I think so much about. How much education you had to do in those really early days. We had to talk about, what happened with the storm. We had to talk about those impacts. But like you said, really the awareness of a coastal problem started well before that.

To me one of the most important things was the effort to help educate the public about why saving the coast, or at least restoring as much as we could as far as the values of it and how important that was. People I don't think who [00:28:30] lived north, in Louisiana even understood what this was about or why they should care. You know, why should money be spent on this? How does this help everyone? So we spent a great deal of time even when I was with Governor Foster is when we created the America's Wetland Foundation, which could be a strong party voice. Didn't, you know, it wasn't the state saying it, it wasn't just the environmentalist saying it, it wasn't, you know, any one industry.

But we tried to pull everyone together. Around one table show how important for all the reasons that were around the table because of our, of our state really was is today. And I think I just feel like, you know, we're not, we're not still there. We need more education. We need education for legislators and for the public in general. I feel like the governors that came after Foster and Blanco you know, Jindal John Bel Edwards, they knew how important the science was. They knew how important, they knew all the points how important our coast was and I feel that now we just don't have that, and we need that very [00:30:00] badly. I am very concerned that our efforts, especially when it comes to the Mid-Barataria project, they're not based on science anymore. They, it, the politics have crept in again, and that is, terrible. That is terrible for the future of our coast.

So I, you know, just to think about how valuable, your experience in DC was before setting up CPRA because we were not gonna be able to do all of this, uh, by ourselves. We were gonna need help. But you had to be able to convey the issue at hand.

Convey the size and scale. I thought you made a really good point earlier, uh, about that as well. The size and the scale, the problem that we face and why they should care about that. And I do think that even though we've had 20 years of talking about things and thankfully have had almost 20 years of a coastal master plan under our belt, that is one thing that we've learned about education is that you can't take it for granted and that it's something that has to be ongoing.

Always. You make a good point about the legislators and. of the differences between North and South Louisiana. So all those things Sidney resonate today. But when y'all were creating that that single state entity, that brand new entity, you were in the governor's, I guess executive assistant in the coastal office, which was, already established. [00:31:30] Obviously it was a discussion about setting up the board and how you wanted that to look like early days about how it could transcend politics and how you could move forward. And so I would imagine that's some of the tougher discussions that you had when creating the CPRA or am I wrong about that?

I'm sure Sidney there were many, many tough discussions in early days, but give us a little window into those days. 

Well, okay, so just, know, to begin with, had, you had things in, we had things in silos. So you have the department, the Louisiana Department of Transportation going after basically the same money in Washington as the head of the Department of Natural Resources. You know, it was just, it was like fighting each other for the same money.

It was ridiculous. So this was about combining, bringing together, having an overarching body that could put the coast first have all the state agencies and almost every state agency is relevant to what happens with the poster protection and restoration authority. And we wanted everyone at the table.

We wanted knowledge, we wanted wisdom. [00:33:00] We did not want a lot of just appointed people. It was very important to have the right people sitting at the table. That census has changed somewhat, which is, unfortunate. But just bringing those two main agencies, transportation and DNR together.

Wow. was, was quite a negotiation.

I about that and still talk about that. Can you imagine if the, I mean, to think about bringing that up at any other time, probably besides a, you know, devastating event for the state to be like, uh, hey, um, secretary Angel, I'm gonna take most of your employees. and, and the really great work that you do, I'm, I'm gonna go ahead and take that, that I'm gonna push.

Yeah. And then DOTD, kind of same thing. I'm gonna take this from you to think about, how bold that was. But Sidney is just so foundational to the success of the modern coastal program and that not having that piecemeal approach. We had Alisha Renfro, who's one of our staff scientists, she's amazing, but she always uses this phrase, random acts of restoration.

Right? And I think that is something that not only did you have to stand up this brand new agency, you, you were in charge of a roadmap. You were in charge of the very first roadmap in that coastal master [00:34:30] plan. You know, you had seen literally decades of plans from the Corps, from Coast 2050. And y'all said, put 'em all together.

Put 'em all together, and this is gonna be our roadmap. So are there any early lessons and I think you hit on some of it about the science based part of the planning. How did you think about it being long-term at the time? You know? So just talk about early days of the Coastal Master Plan and how you were able to balance restoration and protection and long-term and short-term planning. 

Well, we knew what, balance is a great word because we knew just putting rocks on a shoreline was not gonna work. We knew the, as I said before, the scale of the destruction scale of the problem. Needed that same strategic, comprehensive approach to fixing the problem.

And we knew, we knew right off the bat, you're never gonna save up this coast, you're never gonna save the coastline of Louisiana, but there were things we knew would have to happen over a period of time that could make a very, very significant difference. And I, again, I'm gonna say, I mean the, Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion that was, you know, that was the biggest [00:36:00] thing. That was the one project that could actually rebuild land where it really needed to be and, um, rebuild our delta. And during that time, we weren't known for our science at that point, but some of the finest coastal scientists have come out of Louisiana. And slowly but surely we were gaining the respect of the rest of the country and the other estuary systems that were having similar problems or, or problems that were very bad. And Louisiana became preeminent in coastal restoration and doing away with that amazing project, for just the interests of one group or another. we're losing that. We look ridiculous, I think, right now. I hate to say it. But, but we do. It's like, what are you people thinking? I know that's the way the rest of the country's looking at it.

You know this from, from all those decades of plans before the first Coastal Master plan, there was one common denominator, and it was reconnecting to the river. It was that we needed to harness the power of this amazing resource that we had. And so that, that was apparent in decades of work and studies that happened before the [00:37:30] Coastal Master Plan, and then obviously became integral to that process and reconnecting to the river and tapping into those natural processes and mimicking them as best as we can you know, reducing our risk and controlling that as much as possible. I mean, yeah. It an master plan after master plan too.

So Mid-Barataria is, is, you know, when we reflect on these past 20 years, it took a lot of that time, the majority of that time to even develop that science to even develop that process. And so I think that's why that goes hand in hand with some of these reflection points after the storms. I do wanna talk about money just a little bit, Sidney, I know you said that you were in DC trying to find authorizations, looking for revenue sharing, et cetera. We get that a lot, Sidney sometimes in Baton Rouge and other places, especially because people misunderstand what the Deep Water Horizon funds are for, but that you'll have enough money to, I mean, you'll have billions of dollars. You, you know, so, that's an education point, that we still have to continue to work on.

What, what would you say, Sidney to the, all those people from other places that say you have enough money or, um, you know, um. You know, that's just, you don't need anymore. You know? What, what are you doing with what you have? Like what, what would you say today to those folks [00:39:00] about that continued investment in the coastal program?

Well, there has to be a continuous investment in the coast because it's not just about people who live on the coast. It's about not just Louisiana, it's about the entire nation. That depends on our coast. coast is so important, economically, environmentally, culturally, all of it.

It is. It, it's just, um, what we do for the rest of the nation is incredible. Um, you know, and there has to be an investment. This is why we created the CPRA. Was to make sure that it wasn't about this one over here wanting something and that one over there wanting something. It was truly about, we've got to have an overarching view every single one of these agencies sat on that board. Were responsible for things actually had an impact on the coast, and that the coast had an impact on insurance, for instance. And, and what we were trying to do and I think did successfully for years, thank goodness that other governors followed suit, right? [00:40:30] we were able to do that. We were able to bring the problem, to a real clear point to understand that there was gonna be give and take and that basically. The money that's being put in to saving this coast about saving our economy our environment, energy that's produced, everything. Um, so I, it, it's really not the same thing as well, you've got plenty of money. My parish needs this. You know, it's not about that. It is so much bigger than that. It's bigger than all of us.

Sidney. I think that's such a great point. That was something that, um, in addition to, you know, balancing restoration and protection and long-term planning, you know, the need to still think about our future that far into it. But that you had to cross parish lines. You had to think how would you have ever gotten a levee system as big as HSDRSS right? But those big regional projects speak to the size and scale of the challenges that we face. And so, I think that's a really great point is that you had to leave all that behind and you had to go with the team mentality of if something.

You build something in Lafourche and that certainly protects St. Charles. Right. You know, and, and you had to go with that regional mindset. Um, [00:42:00] and that, that seemed to be something that came along with the creation of CPRA. 

And it was also too, you know, um, the education about all that was very, very important in Washington so that they understood. What we were dealing with and it wasn't just about us. I mean, it just wasn't, it was about them too. It was about the whole country um, that we had to work for years. You're still working that, right? I mean, you're still helping to tell people this is why it's important and um, I think all the work. And all the effort that so many people have done over all these years has been so incredibly meaningful and so important. I just don't want to see it ruined. I just don't, and I'm heartbroken. Um, where we are right now, I'm just heartbroken over it.

I wanna end the show talking about some of those people and, and I want to give you an opportunity to, to shout out some of those people. I think I know some of the names that you might say, King, Burwick. Some of the, some of the folks that we've known all along the way. Um, but, but can you, I want, if you can Sidney, you know, talk about some of, [00:43:30] and, and I think it's very selfish, right?

Name some of those people and there's a danger of like leaving somebody out. But there are so many people that did so much work. Over time and, and that we, we could have a really great show if we were able to talk to them all. But it falls on you, Ms. Coffee, to, to recognize some of the shoulders that we stand on today.

So if you wanna give a, a shout out to some of those folks that you knew were instrumental. Not just in early days, but, in the 20 years of the work that we've done, that we've done, now's your time. 

Golly, I will, I will be forgetting. I mean, you know, there's no way to say all the names. Some of them aren't even with us anymore. Um, but Karen Gautreaux, Glen Barr, Jack Caldwell. Oh my gosh. What, what, A four

yeah, 

what? A four, two.

Jack was the secretary of of DNR. Early, early days. Did you take his staff? Is that whose staff you took? Sidney was Jack Caldwell's?

Well, no, because that was during Boston,

So it

so

she, I guess. 

Yeah. 

that was it was Angel. Absolutely. And but you know, and those conversations were so interesting because. He would come into my office and I look, let's talk about this. [00:45:00] we'd sit and talk and then next thing I knew, here came Berry into my office.

Okay, now look, look, we gotta talk. And it was, yeah, it was really,

line 

was interesting.

Sending the, the complaint line forms outside the door.

But you know, those two trying to, it was hard for them and I don't blame them. having to let go little bit of, of what this one had and what that one had and put it together and, and, you know, make a cohesive effort.

But, you know, they were, they were great about it. were absolutely great. They worked hard. Other people, um, oh my God, the scientists, Robert Twilly, Denise Reed, uh, John Day. There's so many, so, so many of them. That were just incredible. Um, Garrett Graves and all that he's done, you know, um, like I say, aside, it didn't have anything to do with that. It had to do with the coast. And one of the things I noticed with, and you, Simone, my gosh, look how much you worked all this time.

Sidney. No, no, it's it, but I, I do this because I think, you know, I have known you, I've been lucky enough to know you [00:46:30] for 20 years and that it's, it's, that is also what these really tough days reflecting on these like, um, you know, These terrible things that happen to our state.

And, and, but do think about all those names, Sidney. And I think about, you know, uh, all the friends that we've made and all the tough discussions that we've had, and all of the, um, easy times that we've had and all the wins, uh, you know, and all the, all the. Again, the challenging times and, and those tough discussions and, um, you know, those relationships were really just so, so important. Um, and that, that to me, I think was also foundational to the success of the coastal program was those relationships, was those, you know, discussions and bonds and those, those, all that hard work that went in over all these years. 

Absolutely. And, and not to mention people like Senator Landrieu and John Breaux. uh, these were the early, uh, even Billy Token. I mean, these were the early supporters of what we were trying to do King Milling and Ann Milling and, uh, gosh, I could just go on. I could sit here and name people for an hour.

episode, Sidney of just us going back and forth naming names, but not naming the same name over again, but it. 

Oh yeah. 

nice again, [00:48:00] just to reflect on, you know, how many people, you know, just took this up as a priority and, um, how how many people contributed hard work and, and you know, that was, that was about the science.

It was about revenue sharing or money. It was about authorizations. It was about. The greater New Orleans levee system and all those people that helped to move that ball forward. Um, you know, and, and I think that again, during these like tough times of reflection and those really hard days, um, that, that, that is something that came from that was this really strong coastal program.

Um, and, and the success that we've seen so far and this idea of recommitting, um, to those same, those same principles that made it successful in the first place. So, um, so Sidney, we're going to have our time draw to a close. Um, I'm so grateful. for those years of education, all those ways that, uh, all those tough conversations that you had, um, with the secretaries lining up those doors. Uh, and I thank you for yeah. I 

Correct. 

um, about how we got here in the first place. And, and I thank you for still being an advocate, a strong coastal advocate and a voice that that we need today. So thank you for that. 

Oh, thank you, Simone. I enjoyed it. Thank you so much.

a big thank you to our [00:49:30] previous guest, Jessica Dandridge, um, with the Water Collaborative, and again to Sidney for helping us to reflect on the 20 year legacy of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and how those storms continue to shape our coast and the communities. As you've heard, we've made progress since 2005. And that is real, but it's also fragile. Honoring the lessons of the past means staying engaged, staying educated, supporting the science, and uplifting those community voices. So as we close out the show, just a reminder to check out NOLA Water Week. You can learn more at nolawater.org and you can find all of our past episodes including Sidney's from the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, um, on deltadispatches.org and sub subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time. What we'll have a part two on our look back of Hurricane Katrina and Rita, and the legacy that they left behind.

See you later. Alligator. .