Tag: coastal restoration

Louisiana Expects to Build More Coastline in 2020 Than It Loses

In 2020, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority expects to build more to it’s coastline and coastal wetlands, ridges, and marshes than Louisiana will lose. CPRA Chairman Chip Kline said “2020 for the coastal program is going to be the year that we’ve been waiting on.” We have many large scale projects that have been studied for years ready to come off the drawing board and into the construction process, Kline added.

One of those projects includes a plan to use dredge material to nourish the marsh south of the town of Jean Lafitte. This 1,4000 acre project represents the largest marsh creation project the state has ever attempted. A large portion of the funding comes from the fines and settlements that are associated with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that occurred in 2010.

In the next few days, the $10 million project to restore 37 acres of Queen Bess Island is expected to wrap up. Queen Bess Island is an important brown pelican nesting area that was heavily affected by the oil spill and is hugely important to our coastline.

Aside from those projects, the state is going to deploy 18 dredges on a variety of other projects. This means the state will move more dirt in 2020 than in any other given year. “We will actually build more land in coastal Louisiana over the next four years than we will lose,” Kline said.

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority projects that while Louisiana will lose around 48 miles of coast this year, the state will build 68 square miles.

It’s important to note that hurricane season can heavily affect these projections. Hurricane Katrina that occurred in 2005 wiped out 300 square miles of land in just 30 hours.  Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast of the United States on August 29, 2005. She was a category 3 rating on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, brought sustained winds of 100–140 miles per hour and stretched about 300 miles.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama were displaced from their homes, and experts estimate that Katrina caused more than $100 billion in damage.

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is established as the single state entity with authority to articulate a clear statement of priorities and to focus development and implementation efforts to achieve comprehensive coastal protection for Louisiana.

They work with federal, state and local political subdivisions, including levee districts, to establish a safe and sustainable coastline that will protect our communities, the nation’s critical energy infrastructure and our bountiful natural resources for generations to come.

The CPRA has a multitude of coastal programs that are funded through a variety of federal and non-federal programs, each of which has different requirements, parameters and processes of implementation.

Those programs are Berm to Barrier, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP), Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA), Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS), Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Restoration, State-Only Projects, Non-State Projects.

For more Louisiana related articles, click here.

Nicholls Makes Strides In Coastal Restoration Efforts

Nicholls State University has once again made its place known as an official part of Louisiana’s efforts toward coastal restoration, preservation, and water management.

In a press conference held on the university’s campus in September, Nicholls President Dr. Jay Clune, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, and the President and CEO of the South Louisiana Economic Council (SLEC) Vic Lafont announced the new Louisiana Coastal Technical Assistance Center (CTAC). The CTAC will be located on the Nicholls campus and will assist local companies and organizations that are competing to work as contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers on various coastal restoration projects in the state.

Other organizations represented at the press conference wereLouisiana Economic Development (LED), the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA),  and The Water Institute of the Gulf. The organizations came together to sign a memorandum of understanding for the creation of the CTAC.

Governor John Bel Edwards stated that the Pelican State will be funding hundreds of millions of dollars into coastal restoration throughout the next fifty years. In addition to preserving the coast, coastal restoration also helps Louisiana businesses by creating a market for them to compete in for work along the coast. It is the state’s way of making sure Louisiana businesses are at the forefront of the coastal restoration process.

The center will be overseen by the South Louisiana Economic Council, which will also help companies gain the necessary qualifications needed for coastal recovery bidding processes. Similarly, Nicholls will provide vast technical support and research services as its role as the CTAC’s higher education partner. Nicholls will also provide a shared office and business space that will be specifically dedicated to coastal restoration.

This is not the first time Nicholls State University has taken a stand in the realm of coastal restoration and preservation. The university has previously partnered with the University of New Orleans, Water Institute of the Gulf, and the Coastal Preservation and Restoration Authority. Just this past spring, Nicholls and the CPRA announced a joint effort to build a Water Research Center for Coastal Restoration on the university’s campus.

LED and CPRA is providing a combined $750,000 initially to establish the new center. After that, each agency will give $125,000 every year for three years. The first year will be the 2020 fiscal year.

“CPRA’s investments will transform the coast,” said CPRA Chairman Chip Kline Jr. “By teaming up with LED, Nicholls, SLEC, and the Water Institute, we believe we have a real shot at transforming the economy of South Louisiana as well. CPRA is measuring success in restored land and reduced flood risk, but CTAC also gives us the opportunity to measure our impact in jobs and business development.”

The Water Institute of the Gulf will join the newly established Coastal Technical Assistance Center in boosting employment and business opportunities within the water management sector. The Institute, which is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a leading applied research center with a focus on coastal and deltaic solutions across the world.

For more education related information, click here.

 

 

Mississippi River Stopping Louisiana From Coastal Restore

The Mississippi River isn’t nearly as muddy as it used to be, and that could be bad for Louisiana coastal restoration. According to a recent article written by nola.com, “A new study indicates the concentrations of sediment in the lower Mississippi River have decreased by more than half in recent decades. That’s not good for Louisiana, which depends on a constant supply of river silt, sand and mud to rebuild land on its ever-eroding, ever-sinking coast.”

Although this is devastating news for coastal restoration warriors around Louisiana, there are many who are prepared for what this new study shows. The article written by nola.com also reveals, “The Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton diversions the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) plans to build in Plaquemines Parish would channel sediment-rich water from the Mississippi into estuaries and bays that have been starved of sediment by the river’s levee system. The two diversions, which would cost a combined $2 billion, are expected to restore marshes lost to erosion, subsidence and sea level rise.”

For more information on the coastal restoration future for Louisiana, click here.

For more articles similar to this one, click here.

Louisiana Building Jump Start Curriculum for Restoring the Coast

 

Louisiana Building Jump Start Curriculum for Restoring the Coast

According to this Nola.com article, and talk at the Louisiana Department of Education, there is dialog about upcoming programs for Environmental Protection and Sustainability. The article states, “This is a top priority in coastal communities, where nearly 2,000-square miles of landscape has disappeared into the Gulf over the past 80 years. The pathway aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to address the state’s environmental challenges and build on the success of corresponding, existing pathways like maritime and skilled crafts.”

The article also says the jumpstart pathway program will include “courses in subjects like Louisiana deltaic systems, wetlands ecology and environmental management; require first-hand work experience, and culminate in a credential. Students who complete the pathway will be better positioned to assume careers in the field.”

For more information on the future of this pathway and the Jumpstart program, click here.

Southeastern Louisiana State Wants your Used Christmas Trees

 

Nola.com has recently stated that “Scientists at the Hammond-based University have used Christmas trees for marsh and wetlands restoration projects in the Manchac area for the past two decades.” Most people have not known that for almost 20 years, the University has collected over 36,000 trees that they use to deploy across the wetlands and marshes in South Louisiana. The trees help dissolve wave action along shorelines while collecting sediment. The article, which can be found here, also states that “the recycled trees provide protection against shoreline erosion and building new land to offset subsidence and sea-level rise as well as being used to create new habitats for plants and animals.”