Funding Shifts to Large-Scale Projects

"It's inevitable . . . a natural evolution," says Dave Frug, field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Inevitability, however, doesn't make the CWPPRA Task Force's shift in emphasis from small- to large-scale restoration projects any less profound.

Until recently, the majority of CWPPRA projects put under construction were designed as defensive measures. They were fast-track projects, designed to put the brakes on wetlands loss. For example:

• The Bayou LaBranche project used a combination of sedimentary, vegetative and structural techniques to create 250 acres of new marsh along the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Charles Parish.
• The Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge project used rock dike breakwaters to protect 640 acres of freshwater marsh in Cameron Parish from further erosion.
• The Boston Canal-Vermilion Bay project used a combination of structural and vegetative techniques to protect 466 acres of wetlands along the northwest shore of Vermilion Bay.
• The Freshwater Bayou project used rock breakwaters and water control structures to continued on page 2 protect 1,700 acres of marsh in Vermilion Parish.

Each of these projects and others like them are expected to be highly successful. Not only are they meeting their environmental objectives; they have rallied grassroots support and demonstrated the effectiveness of specific engineering techniques in protecting wetlands as well.

A view of the Naomi Siphon in Plaquemines Parish. Similar technology and structures will be used in the Myrtle Grove Siphon Project - one of two large-scale, freshwater diversion projects endorsed by the CWPPRA Task Force in February.

Focus on the "Big Picture"

On the other hand, the range of impact of these small projects is limited. Often designed to address localized problems, they can't begin to keep pace with coastal wetlands loss statewide. That, according to the Task Force, requires water-diversion projects extensive enough to affect major portions of Louisiana's coastal basins. Frug, a Task Force member, describes these kinds of systemic efforts as those "that can benefit areas much larger than the actual project footprint."

The Task Force's shift in emphasis to "big-picture projects" was apparent at its meeting on February 28, 1996. It created two project categories, the first of which will include small-scale projects, defined generally as those having fully-funded costs of less than $10 million. The second will contain large-scale projects having "systemic, process-level benefits" and typically having fully-funded costs greater than $10 million. The Task Force dedicated no less than 2/3 of the Priority Project List funding for category 2 and the remaining funds for category 1.

Two Large-Scale Water Diversion Projects

Shortly after approving the 2/3 - 1/3 funding strategy, the Task Force approved plans for phase one of a diversion project near Myrtle Grove, along the west bank of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish. Scheduled to begin in September of this year, the project will use 6- to 8-foot diameter siphons to bring 2,100 cubic feet per second (cfs) from the Mississippi into a 15,000-acre target area. The fully-funded costs are estimated at $15 million.

The area affected by this project has long suffered from the detrimental effects of the Mississippi River levee and the dredging of oilfield and pipeline canals. As a result of subsidence and saltwater intrusion, the area has lost more than 8,000 acres of marsh and converted from a fresh to a brackish habitat. When the siphon is constructed, the project will protect over 1,000 acres of brackish marsh, enhance approximately 6,200 acres of brackish marsh and 3,950 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation, and create 150 acres of new marsh. Re-introduction of fresh water is expected to improve the habitat for fisheries and furbearer, reptile and waterfowl populations. In time, these improvements should enhance opportunities for recreational and commercial fishermen, trappers and sportsmen.

Bayou Lafourche Wetlands Restoration Project
If preliminary design proves successful, the proposed siphon project would direct water from the Mississippi River to Bayou Lafourche at Donaldsonville.

The Task Force also approved the expenditure of $1 million to do preliminary engineering design to determine the effectiveness of siphoning water from the Mississippi at Donaldsonville and diverting it into Bayou Lafourche. The work will concentrate on possible flooding problems (water levels will be raised about 6 feet in the bayou at Donaldsonville and 2 feet in Thibodeaux), land-rights issues (who owns the batture that will be flooded), and marsh benefits (how the water can best be directed into marshes to reduce loss). With an anticipated cost of $24.5 million, Bayou Lafourche represents a clear example of a large-scale project designed to produce big-picture results.

While large projects promise impressive results, they also present a unique set of problems:

• they cost more and therefore often require specific Congressional funding and authorization
• they take longer to plan and construct
• they are more likely to be controversial precisely because their effects are so far-reaching.

Yet these problems pale beside the enormity of the wetlands loss occurring along the coast. In fact, it may be the severity of the crisis itself that smoothes the inevitable transition to large-scale projects and renewed hope for the future of Louisiana's coastal wetlands.