30 Miles of Resilience
“Jefferson Parish doesn't just need a partner to build a living shoreline. It needs a process that can make the next 30 miles possible.”
Jefferson Parish has approximately 30 miles of lakefront requiring shoreline restoration and resilience investment. The Bucktown Living Shoreline showed that shoreline restoration is possible along Lake Pontchartrain. The next challenge is developing a repeatable framework that can help guide restoration across additional shoreline segments.
Our Approach
Community Participation
LAIA serves lakefront neighborhoods across Jefferson, Orleans, and St. Bernard parishes with a direct connection to the communities affected by lakefront resilience and restoration decisions.
Scientific Monitoring
We integrate environmental data and ecological research to determine the best restoration approaches for different shoreline segments, ensuring science guides every project.
Nature-Based Solutions
Our approach focuses on living shorelines, rock breakwaters, and marsh restoration to reduce flood risk while strengthening long-term coastal resilience.
Government Coordination
We connect community voices with government agencies and institutional resources to help move resilience projects from ideas to implementation.
Funding Strategy
LAIA seeks to build partnerships that strengthen applications for coastal resilience and environmental programs, including NOAA and EPA grants.
Measurable Outcomes
We establish clear success metrics, such as elevation retention and CRS credit, to ensure every restoration project delivers long-term value.
Learning From Bucktown
The Bucktown Living Shoreline represents an important starting point for shoreline restoration along Lake Pontchartrain. Supported by approximately $4.5 million in NOAA funding, the project demonstrated the potential of rock breakwaters, marsh restoration, and living shoreline strategies while reinforcing the need to integrate scientific and ecological data earlier in future project design.
- Living shoreline structures can work along Lake Pontchartrain.
- Rock breakwaters and marsh restoration can provide shoreline protection.
- Scientific monitoring should influence project design from the beginning.
- Community organizations should be involved early in the process.
- Future projects need a framework for replication and long-term monitoring.
Learning From Bucktown
The Bucktown Living Shoreline project demonstrated that shoreline restoration is possible along Lake Pontchartrain. The next challenge is developing a repeatable framework that can help guide restoration across additional shoreline segments.
Ecological Strategy
Living shoreline structures can work along Lake Pontchartrain. Rock breakwaters and marsh restoration can provide shoreline protection.
Scientific Monitoring
Scientific monitoring should influence project design from the beginning. Community organizations should be involved early in the process.
Scalability
Future projects need a framework for replication and long-term monitoring. Different shoreline segments require different ecological strategies.