Tag: coastal restoration

Louisiana’s Largest Marsh Creation Project On Track to 2025 Completion

Louisiana’s largest marsh creation project, which will create approximately 2,800 acres of marshland near Shell Beach, recently received a project update, according to this article from The Advocate.

The Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project is a $115 million project that began its construction last year and is set to conclude in August 2025. The $115 million is being financed with settlement funds related to the 2010 BP oil spill; however, the federal government will be paying for a separate plan to restore wider wetlands that have been degraded by the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, or MRGO. The Lake Borgne Marsh Creation project is Louisiana’s single largest marsh creation project currently under construction. The area was visited by St. Bernard Parish officials, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) representatives, and members of the Louisiana Legislature in order to gain a perspective on the project’s current level of completion ahead of the Coastal Protection Authority’s annual plan and the update of the state’s 50-year, $50 billion master plan.

Recently, the chair of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Chip Kline, and other state and parish officials were able to visit the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project in order to provide an update ahead of the Coastal Protection Authority’s five-decade master plan that is updated every six years. Kline and other state and parish officials were able to visit St. Bernard Parish’s Shell Beach as well as take an airboat ride so that they could survey the eroded marsh that’s located between the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and Lake Borgne.

This specific area has seen drastic erosion and changes over the past few decades thanks to saltwater intrusion, erosion, and subsidence that has been gradually degrading the area. It’s generally understood and accepted that most of Shell Beach’s erosion can be attributed to the MRGO after it fully opened in 1968 as a shipping shortcut from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately, this shortcut channel was also labeled as a “hurricane highway”after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, when the channel was responsible for helping expedite the storm surge that hit New Orleans.

One member of the local community, Robbie Campo, spoke about the drastic need for a new marsh environment by saying, “if we don’t do something over here, the lake is going to be into the MRGO. We’re going to lose it all.” Campo’s family operates Campo’s Marina at Shell Beach, and the marina has existed for 120 years, meaning that he has slowly observed the wetlands eroding over his lifetime. While Campo is concerned that the area’s fishing environment will be changed on account of future separate river diversions, he is reportedly relieved to see progress on the new marsh construction.

Thankfully, the $115 million Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project is set to use approximately 13 million cubic yards of dredged soil to create around 2,800 acres of marsh. It’s estimated that this project, like others of its kind, will have an expected lifespan of 20-30 years. Chip Kline spoke about what Louisiana’s experience with detrimental storms has taught it by saying, “I think one of the greatest lessons that we’ve learned over the last few decades is that a natural buffer is just as important as your hurricane risk reduction system. This natural buffer – our marshes, our wetlands – are helping protect us.”

During the visit, parish and state officials were able to see construction excavators work to build a containment dike and mud berms to hold in sediment. After the tour concluded, a press conference was held, and St. Bernard President Guy McInnis spoke about the project by saying, “it’s all for the resilience of our community, and to keep our culture and our heritage for future generations.”

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Nicholls Farm has New Bridge Allowing Access for More Research

Thanks to a partnership with ConocoPhillips and the Lafourche Parish Government, Nicholls State University recently celebrated the rebuilding of the Nicholls Farm Bridge, a project that will have massive implications for the research conducted on Nicholls Farm. According to this statement from the school, the newly rebuilt bridge will be used to grant Nicholls Biology faculty members access to the land on the opposite side of Bayou Folse for research, ecological, and educational purposes.

The rebuilding of Nichols Farm bridge was a $300,000 project that was deemed “critical” by the University for its impact. Funding for the project was gathered over the past two years with the Lafourche Parish Government donating $200,000 towards the project and ConocoPhillips donating an additional $100,000 to see the project come to fruition.

It was in 1969 that Nicholls first purchased from Harvey Peltier the land that would eventually become Nicholls Farm, an integral part of the school’s plans to become the center for total restoration research in Louisiana. In just the past decade alone, Nicholls Biology has produced over 30,000 black mangroves at Nicholls Farm. These mangroves were eventually planted along coastal areas for the purpose of maintaining our coastal wetlands. A complete master plan for Nicholls Farm outlines plans for a classroom space, additional land, and areas to test coastal restoration projects, so the completion of this bridge is only one component of a much larger vision for the University.

Because of the bridge’s placement, Nicholls Biology faculty will now have access to the other end of Bayou Folse, allowing them to plant and grow several species of trees and coastal plants. These plants and trees will then be transferred to the Louisiana coastline to help defend coastal erosion.

Nicholls Biology department head Dr. Quenton Fontenot commented on his vision for the bridge at Nicholls Farm by saying, “our dream for the Farm is a place that brings people together for coastal restoration initiatives, and so to have the support of partners such as ConocoPhillips and the Lafourche Parish Government means we are going to be able to do that. Without that help the project is likely not finished today.”

As of the time of the university celebrating the completion of the bridge, the Biology Department already had several Louisiana irises ready to plant in the ponds on the other side of the bridge through a collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. One of the objectives for planting the irises is for seed harvest production. This is due to the versatility and essentialness of the plant, as it is native to the Bayou Region and sustainable in coastal habitats. These features make plants such as these native Louisiana irises absolutely vital to maintaining coastal wetlands and barrier islands.

John Harrington, the Coastal Wetlands director for ConocoPhillips, said of the essential need to protect the Louisiana coastlands, “the vast wetlands in southeast Louisiana are ideal for coastal restoration research. We are proud to support key partners like Nicholls State University to drive habitat-enhancement research and promote coastal resiliency and sustainability.”

A vital partner in this project coming to fruition is ConocoPhillips, which is one of the world’s leasing exploration and production companies when concerning production and reserves. They also have a globally diversified asset portfolio, and through their subsidiary The Louisiana Land and Exploration Company, they are the largest private wetlands owner in Louisiana. ConocoPhillips has long been a supporter of Nicholls State University and helps to steward their support of the coastal wetlands through their Houma office.

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Surplus Funding for Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Protection

Alongside the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards recently announced a proposal to allocate $150 million in surplus funding toward coastal restoration and protection projects, as per the governor’s office.

During the April press conference, Governor Edwards announced his proposal by saying, “at this moment, we are reaping the rewards of over a decade and a half of planning and implementation efforts. We have invested in the science and directed every available dollar toward projects that deliver real benefits to our people. Our track record of investment and implementation has allowed CPRA’s program to grow steadily into the success story it is today. The confidence we have in our coastal program has now been reaffirmed by an even larger investment from the federal government. I am now asking the Legislature to help us recover further from the devastating hurricanes of 2020 and 2021 by dedicating $150 million of state surplus to projects that will make us safer and more resilient well into the future.”

At the press conference, Col. Stephen Murphy, the commander of the USACE New Orleans District, commented on the Governor’s office’s push toward coastal restoration. Col. Murphy said, “coastal Louisiana’s importance to the Nation is underscored by the Administration and Congress’ recent investment of more than $2.6 billion under the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs acts. We look forward to our continued partnership with the State of Louisiana in delivering their commitment to support the area’s recovery and improve its resiliency to future conditions.”

The $150 in surplus funding will be allocated to fifteen total coastal projects, with $84.5 million being directed toward restoration efforts and $65 million toward hurricane and flood protection projects across 13 parishes. The many projects range from $200,000 allocated for the LSU Center for River Studies in Baton Rouge to $38 million being allocated for the design and construction of the Northwest Little Lake Marsh Creation in Lafourche Parish.

The full list, which can be viewed here, includes $30 million for construction of the Pailet and Crown Point Basin polders of the Lafitte Tidal Protection project in Jefferson Parish, $12 million for construction of the LaBranche Shoreline Protection project in St. Charles Parish, $2 million toward funding the Atchafalaya Basin Program for environmental restoration efforts and enhanced recreational opportunities, and $10 million toward the Southwest Coastal Project in Cameron, Calcasieu, and Vermilion parishes. Additionally, $5 million will be allocated toward various Vermillion Parish projects, including funding for shoreline protection and ridge restoration projects at Cheniere au Tigre as well as an increment of the North Vermilion Bay Shoreline Protection Project.

The mandate of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is to develop, implement, and enforce a comprehensive coastal protection and restoration master plan. As per its website, the CPRA’s 2023 Coastal Master Plan “will build upon previous master plan efforts and strive to ensure that the collective effects of project investments reduce storm surge-based flood risk to communities, provide habitats to support an array of commercial and recreational activities, and support infrastructure critical to the working coast. This will be achieved by harnessing natural processes, focusing protection on key assets, and adapting to changing coastal conditions.”

As revealed by CPRA Chairman Chip Kline, the 2023 Annual Plan is the largest in CPRA history. Chairman Kline stated, “this is a pivotal moment for the coastal program. Our 2023 Annual Plan is the largest in CPRA history, with over a billion dollars allocated for construction and major investments in hurricane protection, sediment diversions, and 23 dredging projects across our coast. We are excited to see the prioritization of vital coastal restoration and protection projects in this year’s surplus funding.”

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New Study Indicated Louisiana Parishes with Highest Flood Risk in the Nation

A new study laying out nationwide flood risks is highlighting a problem that Louisiana residents know all too well: the risk of flooding. According to an article from The Advocate, this study not only highlights several Louisiana parishes as having the highest risk of flooding nationwide, but the analysis is serving as further evidence for State officials advocating for flood mitigation and coastal protection projects.

The new study by the First Street Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit organization, uses a formula that assesses threats to residences, commercial properties, and roads to determine the top 20 counties across the United States at the greatest risk of flooding. Of these 20, eight are Louisiana parishes within the top 15, seven parishes are in the top 10, and Louisiana Parishes comprise the top four parishes in the nation. Cameron Parish sits at the top of the list at No. 1, followed by Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard parishes.  Also noted throughout the study are Plaquemines, Terrebonne, St. Charles, and St. John the Baptist.

The head of research and development at First Street, Dr. Jeremy Porter said of the survey, “our primary goal was just to raise awareness around the infrastructure at risk in these communities so people knew. If their home, for instance, was raised 20 feet — they’ve adapted their home for the area they live in – their power plants or their police stations or their fire stations may still be at risk. What we are advocating for is the use of proper flood and risk tools for understanding that risk.”

Louisiana state officials are said to be using models very similar to the one utilized by First Street to plan and prioritize various flood mitigation projects through the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and the Louisiana Watershed Initiative.

The CPRA has a coastal master plan that is kept up-to-date every six years. In this plan are various outlines for how the state of Louisiana would spend $50 billion over a half-century, or fifty years, on levees, flood control structures, shoreline protection, and coastal restoration. Planning of this magnitude and longevity has positioned Louisiana as a leader among those areas of the nation looking to address land loss and flood protection on such a massive scale. This, of course, comes as a result of vast portions of the state eroding away or being inundated by the Gulf of Mexicoat shockingly quick rates.

Looking forward, concerns have arisen as to whether or not the CPRA’s coastal master plan can be financed. CPRA executive director Bren Haase told Advocate reporters, “having that single vision for our coast has been very, very beneficial if you think back to the BP oil spill, past storms that we’ve had to deal with and now looking ahead at recovery from Hurricane Ida. As the federal government is looking to invest in infrastructure and recovery across the nation, not just here in south Louisiana, I think we’re well-positioned to make a very, very good case that ‘hey, we know what we want to do, it’s the right thing to do and it’s worth funding.’”

Outside of the CPRA’s coastal master plan is the Louisiana Watershed Initiative, which has been aiming to improve the method in which Louisiana deals with flood risks. The initiative does this by approaching the issue from the standpoint of a watershed instead of a city or parish, thus dividing the state into eight watershed regions and prioritizing projects under a scoring system.

Already, the Watershed initiative has selected over $400 million in projects, ranging from an east Slidell ring levey to massive drainage improvements to be made in Ascension Parish. This intel comes from the head of Louisiana’s Office of Community Development, Pat Forbes, who oversees the initiative. He was quoted as saying, “the watershed initiative is not just about spending the $1.2 billion that (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)sent us for mitigation activities. It’s about changing the way that we manage flood risk.”

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Rabbit Island Restoration Project Aims to Save the Pelicans and Coast

Louisiana engineers are banding together to restore the portion of Calcasieu Lake known as Rabbit Island and save dozens of brown pelican eggs in the process, as reported by The Daily Advertiser.  Details on the Rabbit Island restoration project are below.

Set forth as one of six projects by the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group (LTIG) in January 2017, the Rabbit Island Restoration Project aims to add more land to the Cameron Parish island and ensure that the march island’s brown pelican population continues to thrive.

Reports indicate that since 1955 at least 89 acres of land have been lost, and the 200 remaining acres only consist of either open water or land that is at or below sea level. The excessively low elevation is a result of tidal effects from nearby shipping channels and wind-driven waves.

As a result of this continual land loss, the population of Louisiana’s official state bird, the brown pelican continues to lose half of its laid eggs annually. This is highly concerning considering that Rabbit Island is Southwest Louisiana’s only brown pelican rookery or dense nesting colony. In 2018 it was reported that the island hosted a population of over 1000 pelicans, but that number has since shrunken to a mere 400. Accordingly, this not only causes detrimental environmental effects, but the symbolic significance and implications of losing the state’s official bird cannot be understated.

The total effect of the project, which is spearheaded by the Lafayette company, Royal Engineering, will raise the island’s elevation from 1 foot to 3.5 feet, giving the pelican population more area for building nests. The process of raising the elevation consists of dredging 606,300 cubic feet of sediment from the nearby Calcasieu Shipping Channel and transporting it to Rabbit Island. The engineering team expects to add 88 acres back to the marsh island, which includes vegetation such as native grasses, shrubs, and plenty of room for the State’s official birds.

The $16.4 million Rabbit Island Restoration Project officially began in August 2020 with funds received from the BP oil settlement from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The settlement gave the state of Louisiana $5 billion in natural resource damages with $220 million set aside specifically for bird restoration projects.

The restoration of Rabbit Island is the first rebuilding of a waterbird colony since the restoration of Queen Bess Island in early 2020. That project successfully restored 31 of the island’s total 36 acres available for pelican nesting. Located in Jefferson Parish, Queen Bess Island is the state’s fourth-largest Brown Pelican rookery, as it supports approximately 18% of Louisiana’s pelican nesting. The project was a resounding success, as it saw a dramatic increase in nesting activity since the project concluded just on the onset of the traditional nesting season for Brown Pelicans, mid-to-late February.

In light of Louisiana’s recent storm season, the effort to restore Rabbit Island had picked up considerable support from Louisiana officials. State Representative Ryan Bourriaque stated, “last year’s storm season was devastating for the people of Cameron Parish. As we continue to rebuild, I applaud the state for taking on this timely restoration project and for their continual investment in this region.”

Jack Montoucet, a secretary for the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the group who initially announced the Rabbit Island project, said of its impact and importance: “by combining the habitat expertise of Wildlife and Fisheries and the restoration abilities of CPRA, we are making a big difference that will allow our native species to flourish as we continue the mission of restoring and protecting coastal Louisiana.”

As of early April 2021, the restoration of Rabbit Island is nearly complete, thus wrapping up a restoration effort years in the making and ensuring the flourishing of our state’s bird for many years to come.

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Louisiana Coastal Restoration Efforts Gain Support

After a recent environmental impact statement was publicly released by the Army Corps of Engineers, more and more support has accumulated for the Louisiana Coastal restoration efforts, specifically Louisiana’s Mississippi River Delta, according to an article from Biz New Orleans.

This drafted version of the Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was released for a period of public review and comment, allowing for individuals and organizations to speak up and engage in the ongoing restoration efforts. The DEIS proposes that a sediment diversion is to be placed throughout a portion of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, extending into the Mid-Barataria Basin in Plaquemines Parish.

The Barataria Basin is currently experiencing one of the highest land loss rates in the world, and if approved, this sediment diversion could assist in the rebuilding and maintaining of tens of thousands of acres of land in the Plaquemines Parish area.

One group advocating for the implementation of the sediment diversion as a part of the Louisiana Coastal Master Planproject is “Restore the Mississippi River Delta,” which is a coalition of the National Audubon Society, Environmental Defence Fund, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. The coalition refers to the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion as Louisiana’s “best shot” to turn the tide on the state’s coastal land loss.

Between 1932 and 2016, the Barataria Basin has lost approximately 295,000 acres of land, making its land loss rate among the highest worldwide. A loss of land on this massive scale affects more than just maps of the region, as it displaces entire communities, threatens essential infrastructure and associated jobs, and completely destroys an iconic wildlife habitat that was once abundant and diverse.

The coalition’s campaign director Steve Cochran spoke of the immediacy of the proposal by saying, “unless we act now, we risk losing it all. The future of our entire region is at stake. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion will build more wetlands than any other individual restoration project in the world, in an area experiencing some of the highest land loss rates on the planet. If our region is to have a fighting chance against land loss, hurricanes, and sea-level rise, we must put the muddy Mississippi back to work to rebuild our coast.”

The full Draft Environmental Impact Statement, released by The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), consists of over 5000 pages, 10 chapters, and 20 appendices, detailing just how the proposed project could help to restore Louisiana’s coast. The full DEIS can be found on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ website.

David Muth is the director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Program, which is a part of the “Restore the Mississippi River Delta” coalition, and he’s called for immediate action to be taken. Muth spoke of the importance saying, “Louisiana’s unparalleled coastal habitat is at risk of near-complete collapse in the face of climate change-driven sea-level rise. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, perhaps more than any other project now planned, is vital to the long-term health of our wildlife and fisheries resources. We are finally beginning to address the serious challenges we face at an appropriate scale, using the right tool — the river. If we act now, we can remain a world-renowned Sportsman’s Paradise.”

Louisiana’s iconic coast is home to over 2 million people, a provider of nearly 30 percent of the commercial fishing landings of the United States, and a producer of 90 percent of the country’s outer continental oil and gas. These statistics and plenty more released in the DEIS denote that the time to implement coastal restoration efforts is sooner- rather than later.

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