The Water Institute, in partnership with St. Mary Parish Government and St. Mary Excel, today announced the release of the strategic plan for the Atchafalaya River Coastal Hub (ARCH) — a community-driven vision to strengthen economic opportunity, build resilience, and support long-term growth across the Atchafalaya Basin.
The plan will be unveiled at a public meeting Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium. Residents, business leaders, and community stakeholders are invited to attend and learn more about the vision for ARCH and its role in shaping the Parish’s future.
“ARCH is more than a plan — it’s a shared commitment to building a stronger future for St. Mary Parish,” said Catherine Holcomb, President of St. Mary Excel. “From the intensive workshop sessions to the planning meetings and industry interviews, this process reflects our community’s collective determination to innovate and create solutions that merge economic opportunity, resilience, and quality of life. With the voices of our residents, ARCH becomes a cornerstone for revitalization and transformation.”
The ARCH initiative builds on the Parish’s long history of innovation and its unique coastal setting to create a hub for collaborative research, industry partnerships, and community-focused projects. Informed by extensive workshops, industry interviews, and direct engagement with residents, the plan identifies strategies that merge best practices from business, industry, and research partners to address challenges while seizing opportunities unique to Louisiana’s coast.
The Water Institute facilitated the year-long planning process in partnership with St. Mary Parish and St. Mary Excel. Using a structured decision-making framework, the institute’s cross-disciplinary team worked with stakeholders to identify fundamental community objectives, prioritize actions, and shape the long-term vision for ARCH.
“The Atchafalaya Basin is one of the most critical ecosystems and waterways for the country and the world, and The Water Institute is proud to have worked alongside community leaders and residents to ensure the ARCH reflects local priorities and serves as a foundation for resilience, innovation, and opportunity,” said Beaux Jones, President & CEO of The Water Institute. “This plan shows what’s possible when science, community priorities, and innovation come together.”
St. Mary Parish stakeholders identified three research focus areas for ARCH to prioritize in the hub’s first six years: Infrastructure resilience, economic resilience, and ecosystem resilience. Each focus area contains three potential pilot projects and programs that ARCH can pursue in the near-term.
The plan builds on recommendations first identified in 2018 by the Urban Land Institute and complements recent milestones, including the designation of the Atchafalaya River Basin as a National Estuarine Research Reserve. Together, these efforts underscore the Parish’s potential to become a cornerstone for coastal research, economic revitalization, and community transformation.
For more information about the Atchafalaya River Coastal Hub and the strategic plan, visit the St. Mary Excel website here. Read more about The Water Institute's involvement here.
ABOUT THE WATER INSTITUTE
The Water Institute is driven by the mission to reduce the vulnerability of people, communities, ecosystems, and economies through transformative approaches to interconnected environmental and social challenges. As an independent, applied research organization, the Institute advances actionable research, technology, and planning to support science-informed decision making. The Institute serves as a thought partner, leveraging expertise in multiple disciplines and engaging across multiple sectors — government, private industry, academia, and communities. The Institute was founded in 2011 in the aftermath of devastating hurricanes and oil spills. Headquartered in Louisiana, the Institute draws on its roots in the Mississippi River Delta and the Gulf Coast, where water is both a strength and a vulnerability, to tackle challenges wherever they are. The Water Institute envisions a future where all of humanity can adapt and thrive alongside nature in a changing world. Learn more at www.thewaterinstitute.org.
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