Louisiana to Become the Silicon Valley of Water Control Expertise?

Louisiana's efforts to manage flood risks and stem coastal erosion could become the region's next big economic driver.

Aerial view of Louisiana wetland habitats

Almost $2 billion in state contracts to design and build coastal restoration and flood protection projects will be up for grabs between July 1 and 2020, The Data Center says in a new report.

But the state's declining funding for colleges and universities could hamper its ability to develop an economic hub around coastal expertise. Louisiana lags in science, engineering and technology graduates, according to the report,

Boosting expertise around a certain subject has bolstered local economies elsewhere in the United States, says the report, citing Silicon Valley, which attracted federal money for radio technology after World War II and is now the country's premier region for computer-related research and development. But federal investment alone is not a surefire route to success, the report warns.

The Data Center looked at how well local companies are fairing at capturing this money. In-state firms have garnered the lion's share of construction contracts. In fact, 79 percent of Army Corps of Engineers construction contract dollars went to in-state firms for Louisiana projects. And in-state firms secured more than $124 million in Corps of Engineers contracts elsewhere in the U.S. in 2016.

"To become a self-sustaining cluster, Louisiana must not only develop scientific preeminence in the field of flood-risk reduction but also commercialize that science," the report says. "From geotextiles to oyster reefs to massive civil engineering projects to watershed monitoring and management to new ways to manage subsidence - there are likely dozens, if not hundreds, of innovations in flood-risk reduction that could be developed and marketed to bring in revenues from national and global markets that will soon face these challenges."

Louisiana's $50 billion, 50-year plan to fight coastal erosion, subsidence and sea level rise has so far relied heavily on money from litigation over the BP oil disaster. The state is also banking on an increased share of offshore oil revenue under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which could bring in $140 million a year.

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