Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan
Developing the 2026 CCMP
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program is currently updating the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP). The new CCMP will highlight current key priorities within the Basin and identify projects to address priorities. An updated CCMP will ensure that program priorities align with community needs. After the new CCMP is adopted, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program will review and revise the document every 5 years, or as needed.
The University of New Orleans Research and Technology Foundation (UNORTF) manages the program with grant funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The UNORTF received EPA funds under Cooperative Agreement number BR-02F06201-1 to support development of the draft CCMP. The UNORTF subawarded funds to the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership to develop the CCMP. The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership collaborated with four workgroups (Water Quality, Working Lands and Waters, Habitat Management, and Resilient Communities) and received input from Pontchartrain stakeholders through Community Roundtable meetings.
The goals of the 2026 CCMP are to improve water quality through reduction of pollution, sustain land-based and aquatic habitat, and increase public awareness of current and future ecological health issues and participation in actions to sustain the health of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. The 2026 CCMP includes actions in the critical areas of water quality, habitat, and education and involvement to address the ecological health of the basin. The public was invited to participate in this process by providing comments from April 15, 2026, through June 14, 2026. The CCMP update is planned for completion in 2026.
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program currently refers to both the Conservation Management Plan (CMP) and the Comprehensive Habitat Management Plan (CHMP) as the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP).
2006 Comprehensive Habitat Management Plan
The Comprehensive Habitat Management Plan was created to provide an update to the Basin's needs and recommendations, especially in relationship to habitat management. The CHMP served as an addendum to the Saltwater Intrusion/Wetland Loss portion of the CCMP; the CHMP provided an update to this section within the CMP and responded to additional needs within the Basin.
1995 Conservation Management Plan
The 1995 Conservation Management Plan is a planning document used to help guide restoration projects within the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. Although the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program was formally authorized in 2000, EPA funded development of the CMP which was later adopted officially by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program Management Conference.
Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan 1995 Document (pdf)