New law creates dedicated funding for Amite River flood protection
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - For the first time, there is a dedicated revenue stream for flood protection for the Amite River Basin.
Gov. Jeff Landry signed a new law creating the Watershed Restoration and Conservation fund; a dedicated revenue source for restoring the Amite River Basin. The funding will come from companies doing sand and gravel mining in the river.
“We get a lot of our mineral extraction from sand and gravel, and they pay a tax for that so what we’re doing is dedicating that revenue to restoration,” said Paul Sawyer, Chief Advisor for the Amite River Basin Commission.
The revenue will total just under $1 million. Sawyer said that amount can be matched by federal dollars to complete projects, including adding meanders back and creating retention areas.
