An agreement signed Friday by federal and state officials could help advance a stalled plan to restore wetlands destroyed by a notorious southeast Louisiana shipping channel labeled a "hurricane highway" after Katrina , but money must still be approved for the work.

The deal comes with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching next week and as coastal advocacy groups press the Army Corps of Engineers to move forward on the plan for the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, or MRGO. The agreement was signed by the state's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and the Corps, a statement from both said.

The original plan in 2012 aimed to restore and protect around 57,000 acres of wetlands and coastal habitat. It was estimated to cost $3 billion in total at the time, though the

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