BATON ROUGE - Louisiana's senior coastal official has called the 2017 rewrite of the state's master plan for coastal restoration and storm surge protection "the issue of a lifetime," arguing that major restoration projects are urgently needed.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports that Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chairman Johnny Bradberry told dozens of participants in a discussion about the plan Monday at Louisiana State University that the current coastal situation will affect every part of the state's economy.

The plan calls for at least two major diversions of sediment and freshwater from the Mississippi River that would be located below New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish to both build new land and wetlands and to nourish existing wetlands.

Shrimpers and oyster growers are concerned about how the diversion would affect their catches.