The state construction budget approved by the Louisiana Legislature in the final days of the session contains $13 million for the ambitious project to restore the LSU lakes, but that’s less than one-third of the $40 million that had been requested by the Jindal administration and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which is spearheading the restoration effort.
Perhaps more significantly, none of the funds budgeted for the project are in the priority one category—the only category for which funds are guaranteed this fiscal year.
“We are not unhappy with this allocation,” says BRAF Executive Vice President John Spain. “Any money is appreciated. But this is certainly not the total amount we need.”
House Bill 2 allocates $3 million for the lakes project in priority two, and $10 million in priority five. Projects in priority two might get some funding later in the year, but it is not guaranteed, according to Rep. Steve Carter, who also advocated for the funds. Projects in priority five are not necessarily as low down on the list as they might seem. Priority five projects often jump over projects in priority three and four, but only after the Legislature has again heard testimony on them in a subsequent session.
In other words, none of the money is guaranteed.
“There are hundreds of projects in priority five,” Spain says. “We hope to get moved up but we will have to go back to the Legislature.”
If the funds do come through, the $3 million will be used to draft construction documents, and could also be used to start dredging one of the lakes. The additional $10 million would also be used for dredging. Spain says the total amount may be enough to fund the dredging of University Lake and City Park Lake, but likely not more than that.
“At least this will get them started,” Carter says. “But it will be a slow process.”
The need to dredge the aging lake system, which is ecologically unhealthy and in danger of eventually drying up, prompted BRAF’s “Destination: The Lakes” project, which was unveiled last year. The idea behind the effort was to not only restore the lakes to health, but to enhance the entire area through the addition of new recreational amenities and improved lighting and signage.
A series of public meetings has been held over the past year to gather input on the topic, and consultants are expected to unveil their final plan for the lake system overhaul in July. Though many of the ideas contained in the plan will not be doable for $13 million, other sources of funding may be identified.
“Now that we know what we potentially have from the state we can work with that and start looking for other sources of funding,” Spain says.
—Stephanie Riegel
