Land loss in Louisiana: The fight to preserve our coastline

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — A plan to reconnect the Mississippi River to its wetlands, build new land, and restore dying estuaries is on life support.

The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project has paused after Governor Jeff Landry paused the work and the Army Corps of Engineers pulled the permit.

Polls show that the majority of Louisianans support the project. Every aspect of Mid-Barataria has been reviewed by experts and the $3 billion dollar project is funded by the Deepwater Horizon settlement. This project is recognized by some as the “keystone of the Coastal Master Plan.”

“I have worked internationally and here in Louisiana and one thing I tell people is that Louisiana has the most sophisticated coastal restoration plan, not just in the Gulf and U.S., but in many ways across the world,” said Fulbright Geologist Alex Kolker.

“This project started in 2007, it has been vetted by the best scientists, engineers across the world, not just America,” said Founder of Women of the Storm, Anne Milling. “People from Vietnam to Amsterdam have looked at the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. It’s been scrutinized every which way and has been considered the most important project that the Master Plan could possibly undertake for Louisiana.”

Why is there so much land lost in Coastal Louisiana?

Louisiana experiences coastal land loss, which is triggered by humans and natural forces. Levees and flood control structures on the Mississippi River have provided flood control and economic benefits. However, these forms of river management have also channeled the Mississippi River and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico, depriving the broader coastal ecosystem of the fresh water and nutrient-rich sediment it needs to survive.

Dredging canals for oil and gas exploration and pipelines provided our nation with critical energy supplies, but these activities also took a toll on the landscape, weakening marshes and allowing saltwater to invade deeper into coastal basins. Sea level rise, land subsidence, severe storms, and invasive species add further stress.

What is the purpose of the plan?

The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion (MBSD) project was identified in Louisiana’s 2012 Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast (Master Plan) as a critical project for restoring and rebuilding coastal Louisiana. The project’s purpose is to divert sediment-laden water from the Mississippi River to the Mid-Barataria Basin. By re-establishing a connection between the Mississippi River and the Basin, the project will mimic historic deltaic sediment deposition to build, maintain, and sustain critical coastal lands.

The state has lost at least 1,900 square miles of land since the 1930’s and the latest projections show we stand to lose in the range of 1,800 to 4,200 additional square miles of land. The impacts of coastal land loss threaten Louisiana’s economy, commerce, infrastructure, and culture.  The collapse of coastal Louisiana would negatively impact the entire country, we protect infrastructure that supplies 90% of the nation’s outer continental oil and gas, 20% of the nation’s annual waterborne commerce, 26% (by weight) of the continental U.S. commercial fisheries landings, winter habitat for five million migratory waterfowl.

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