Under a new state waterbottom management law, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) now has authority to grant permits to private landowners to reclaim property lost to erosion. Before Act 55 of the First Extraordinary Legislative Session of 1996, sponsored by Senator Michael Robichaux of Raceland, permitting requests were obtained through the Division of Administration's State Land Office.

According to the law, private landowners whose land is contiguous to and abuts state waters, and has eroded (since July 1921), can apply to DNR for a permit to reclaim the eroded land, thereby recovering full ownership of their property. The act also allows DNR to enter into agreements with private landowners to facilitate the development, design and implementation of coastal restoration projects. In the past, coastal restoration projects performed by the DNR could be halted or delayed because of ownership rights issues.

Last month, DNR issued its first reclamation permit to Callais Cablevision, Inc. of Golden Meadow, La. Callais plans to reclaim .78 acres of eroded land through the use of fill material and to construct a bulkhead in an attempt to prevent further erosion along Caminada Bay in Jefferson Parish.

Editors: For more information contact Warren Fleet, DNR's General Counsel at (504)342-4544 or the Public Information Office at (504) 342-8955.