The WaterMarks Interview

Dave Cvitanovich
Executive Assistant, Plaquemines Parish Government

Hurricanes recurrently hammer at Louisiana's coastline, tearing up marsh grass, breaching beaches and destroying wildlife habitat. But while scientists debate the significance of a hurricane's long-term effects, policy makers in places like Plaquemines Parish struggle with the effects of a different kind of storm.

Q Hurricanes have been colliding with Louisiana's coasts for eons. In fact, they've been an essential part of the natural process that created Louisiana's intricate coastal ecosystem. Why all the concern today?

A You used the phrase "natural process." Before people came to Louisiana, the process was natural. For example, the storm surge from a hurricane would push salt water up into a marsh, the water would quickly drain back to the ocean, and fresh water from a freely flooding Mississippi would recharge the system. The ecosystem was in balance.

Q And people disrupted all that?

A Let's say we've paid a price for progress. If we're going to live in Louisiana, we're going to need structures like levees. But levees have altered the balance of nature. By holding back flooding on the Mississippi, levees cut off our marshes from the fresh water needed to balance the negative effects of a hurricane's storm surge. So every day we lose vegetation; we lose marsh; we lose more of our buffer.

Q So what can be done?

A That's the question, isn't it? I can tell you that I saw Hurricane Danny rip out vegetation to the point where the marsh actually disappeared and there was nothing left but open water. I've watched hurricanes eat up a thousand feet of beach in a day and dump five feet of grass on an oyster bed.

But by far, the most dangerous storms are those clashes we have among ourselves. Oyster fishermen, shrimpers, sport fishermen, hunters, business people - we all make heavy and conflicting demands on coastal resources.

Q Too many user groups.

A Exactly. And until everyone is willing to find some flexibility in their position, we're not going to find common ground when it comes to saving the wetlands. Everyone wants a future filled with strong coastal marshes. That kind of building effort is going to take a lot of sediment and nutrient-rich fresh water. At the same time, the shrimp and oyster industries aren't sold on fresh water. While it clearly improves conditions in the long run, it can wreak temporary, short-term havoc on their resource. But we can't afford to be deadlocked when our future is literally washing away.

So one of the things we're working hardest at is opening up the lines of communication between these user groups. It's a high-wire act, and it's not unusual for everyone to be unhappy with us at once. But I've always believed that if you say nothing and do nothing, you are nothing. And unless the people of Plaquemines Parish stand together, in not too many years we're going to have nothing.