WASHINGTON (September 23, 2008) – The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, the Honorable John Paul Woodley, Jr., and the Director of Coastal Protection and Restoration for the Governor of Louisiana, Garret Graves, signed Monday the first project partnership agreement (PPA) related to cost-shared work on the new 100-year Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) for the New Orleans, La., metropolitan area.  

The PPA, which covers the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Project portion of the new system, enables the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move forward with preparing Project Description Documents and issuing contracts for work that is being cost shared by the federal government and the state of Louisiana.

“Today’s agreement highlights the teamwork and collaboration of the state of Louisiana, the federal government and all the local stakeholders and partners,” said Woodley. “This is an important step toward completing a new HSDRRS that is truly designed, built and operated as a single system.   It was important to get this agreement signed so that the Corps’ very aggressive construction schedule can be maintained.”

The current estimated total cost of new work covered by this PPA is $3.85 billion.  Of that total, an estimated $1.593 billion is work to be fully funded at federal expense and $2.257 billion is to be cost shared by the federal government and state of Louisiana.

This PPA also smoothes the way for future PPAs, including the West Bank and Vicinity project, the permanent pumps on the Lake Pontchartrain outfall canals, and for other HSDRRS features. 

The administration and the state of Louisiana remain committed to the safety of citizens in the greater New Orleans area.  The new 100-year system, scheduled to be complete in 2011, will provide far greater hurricane and storm damage risk reduction than New Orleans has ever had.