COASTAL WETLANDS PLANNING, PROTECTION AND RESTORATION ACT

PROJECT STATUS REPORT as of 18-Apr-2024

Grand-White Lake Landbridge Restoration

PROJECT DATA

Point of Contact:

DEPT. OF THE INTERIOR
FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE

COASTAL WETLANDS PLANNING, PROTECTION AND RESTORATION ACT

PROJECT STATUS REPORT as of 18-Apr-2024

Grand-White Lake Landbridge Restoration

PROJECT LOCATION:

The project is located in Cameron Parish, LA in the southeastern portion of Grand Lake. The project is bordered by Grand Lake to the west, Round Lake to the north, Collicon Lake to the east and the old Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to the south.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

Collicon Lake (3,000 ac) is in imminent danger of breaching (i.e., within 400 ft) into the eastern portion of Grand Lake. Should this breach occur, the size of Grand Lake will increase by over 4,800 acres and the size of the land bridge will be reduced by 2 miles. Shoreline erosion would accelerate in the marsh between the former Collicon Lake and Alligator Lake and Lake le Bleu. Project features consist of the following: 1) Install 2.1 miles (12,000 feet) of hard shoreline stabilization, with fish-sediment access locations, at the SE shore of Grand Lake from a point approximately 1,000 feet north of the Old Intracoastal Waterway to a point even with the Round Lake northern shoreline (the hard shoreline protection will be rock foreshore dike); 2) restore approximately 17 acres of marsh along the Grand Lake shoreline with 12,000 x60 feet of spoil from access channel construction; 3) install two 9,240 ft-long rows of vegetated linear terraces along the NW shore of Collicon Lake [74 units 200 ft long x 10 ft wide at the top (82 ft wide at base)] with 50 ft gaps between terraces. The terraces and gaps will be constructed in two rows parallel to the shoreline. The first row will be located approximately 50 ft from the shoreline in about 2.5 ft of water or shallower; the second row will be approximately 100 ft lakeward of the first row in about 3.5 ft of water or less. The terrace tops will be vegetated with seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) planted in two rows of 4-inch containers planted on 5 ft centers. The terrace slide slopes will be vegetated with Bullwhip (Scirpus californicus) or Giant cutgrass in four offset rows of gallon containers on 10 ft centers. The entire terrace tops will be seeded with a mixture of Bermuda, Brown topped and Japanese Millet or similar combination. The southern shoreline of Round Lake will be planted with two rows of gallon containers of Bullwhip or Giant cutgrass if sufficient funding is available.

PROJECT STATUS: (Project Status Last Updated: 01-Jul-2005 )

Grand-White Lakes Land Bridge Restoration Status July 2005 Phase 1 engineering and design funding was approved by the Task Force on January 10, 2001. The LDNR/ USFWS Cost Share Agreement was executed on July 24, 2001. LDNR certified landrights completion on December 12, 2001. Project sponsors received Phase II construction funding approval from the CWPPRA Task Force on August 7, 2002. All of the CWPPRA and NEPA project construction requirements have been completed; 1.) the NRCS Overgrazing Determination (August 30, 2002), 2) LA state Coastal Zone Consistency Determination (September 19, 2002), 3) the LA Department of Environmental Quality Water Quality Certification (October 28, 2002), 4) the Environmental Assessment (November 19, 2002), 5) the Corps’ CWPPRA Section 303(e) Determination (December 2002), and 6) the Corps’ Section 404 Permit (December 2002). A favorable 95% Design Review Conference was held September 12, 2002. The project construction contract for Construction Unit 1 (Grand Lake rock shoreline stabilization) was awarded in June 2003, the Notice to Proceed was issued on July 10, 2003, and construction for that phase was completed in October 2003. Construction Unit 2 (Collicon Lake Terraces) construction began in early July 2004 and was completed in October 2004. The project ground breaking was held August 15, 2003. Operation and maintenance post construction field trips in February and April 2005 indicated that Construction Unit 1 - the Grand Lake shoreline rock dike and marsh creation is performing well. The rock has not subsided and a small strip of wetland was created between the rock and the shoreline with spoil from access channel dredging. Construction Unit 2 terraces have experienced post construction erosion. The Collicon Lake lake-ward terrace tops have eroded approximately 66% since project construction. Most of the lake-ward planted giant cutgrass vegetation has eroded and a cut bank remains. Most of the inner shoreward terraces are holding up well with giant cutgrass vegetation growing and expanding. Nutria herbivory of the planted vegetation on the northern and northwestern Collicon Lake terraces has been observed.

FUND STATUS:

The current project estimate is $4,974,137 , which includes $3,536,831 for construction first costs, and $289,115 and $1,148,191 for 20 years of monitoring and operations and maintenance, respectively.