Adapting to the Present and Preparing for the Future

Over the past decade we have learned that projects that mimic or restore natural water flow and sediment delivery bring the best economic, social, and environmental benefits to the coast. But coastal planners also realize that involving land and lease-owners early in the planning process is all-important. Government must have a strong sensitivity to their needs while negotiating for the greatest benefit to the state, the wetlands, and the citizens who make a living on the coast. To this end, budgets are included for the administrative costs incurred in acquiring appropriate land rights for projects and, despite occasional controversy, the Task Force has managed to reach appropriate agreements. The goal is to protect and restore the wetlands with the least social and economic disruption for Louisianans.

Future Projects

There are currently 65 projects in various stages of planning and design. Of those, one of the most ambitious is the river re-introduction at Bayou LaFourche, approved in October 2001. Once a major distributary of the Mississippi, the bayou now carries only 1/20th of 1 percent of the river’s flow— a mere average of 200 cubic feet per second. This project will employ pumps and siphons to re-introduce nutrient-rich river water from the Mississippi into the bayou—revitalizing nearly 85,000 acres of wetlands. Dredging will remove over 6 million cubic yards of sediment from the bayou and a sand trap will reduce the need for dredging in the future. Five additional monitoring stations will be added between Donaldsonville and Lockport.

Wes McQuiddy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said this project “exemplifies CWPPRA’s endorsement of re-introduction projects as a viable restoration tool. Much progress has been made on the Bayou Lafourche project, and I would say that it has undergone more rigorous planning than any other CWPPRA project to date.”

Ecosystem Strategies

Three comprehensive coastal restoration plans are direct outgrowths of CWPPRA. The first, a 1993 Comprehensive Restoration Plan, outlined the first blueprint of projects by basin. This was followed by Coast 2050:Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana, produced in 1998 with the cooperation of the public, local governments, stakeholders, and Task Force members. Coast 2050, which was supported by all 19 coastal parishes, identifies the restoration strategies that offer the best restorative or protective solutions to wetlands loss within the nine hydrologic basins of the four coastal regions.

A third plan saw its beginnings in 2000 as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state of Louisiana initiated feasibility reports to translate the Coast 2050 strategies into projects for each basin. At that time a series of feasibility reports over 10 years was envisioned.

Instead, that changed to a strategy of producing a single, in-depth feasibility study for the entire coast, and in March 2002 an interagency team was formed to develop the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Comprehensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration Study. It would include a preliminary LCA report and draft environmental impact statement identifying seven alternatives for building sustainable coastwide ecosystems.

Early in 2004, the Administration directed that the LCA focus on identifying only the most critical ecological needs and proposing a “near-term” program of highly cost-effective projects to address those needs.

In November 2004 the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study was released for public comment. The study, which outlines $1.9 billion in major, near-term projects, programmatic elements such as science and technology and beneficial use of dredged material, as well as additional longer range studies, will next be submitted to Congress for approval and funding. If authorized in a Water Resources Development Act, the normal course for civil works, the cost would be shared 65 percent federal funds, 35 percent state funds, for implementation of restoration projects, splitting the estimated cost, $1.28 billion in federal funds, $712 million in state funds.

Where Next for the Breaux Act?

In December 2004 Congress approved and President Bush signed a spending bill extending the Breaux Act through Sept. 30, 2019. Breaux, patriarch of the program, spearheaded the extension before retiring from the Senate.

The Breaux Act will therefore continue to provide funding, and based on estimated forecasts, the annual allocations could average $60 million in the coming years.

Besides the extension, the new law removes the spending cap on the Breaux Act’s three programs: Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Restoration Projects, National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Projects, and North American Wetlands Conservation Program.

“The Breaux Act has a solid track record for executing effective coastal restoration projects in Louisiana,” said Col. Peter Rowan, New Orleans district engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and chair of the Breaux Act Task Force. “Through this program we have begun the long process of reversing the loss of land, marsh and critical habitat.With extension of the Act, the Task Force has the opportunity to continue the program in concert with the restoration opportunities outlined in the LCA Near-Term Plan.”