Earned Media
State plan outlines coastal work underway or soon to get started in Terrebonne and Lafourche
Tens of millions of dollars in key flood-protection and coastal-restoration projects are included in the state's draft spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's draft budget for fiscal 2022 calls for spending $887 million across the state's coast, 71% of going directly to constructing projects.
Some of the projects are underway, others will get started before or during the next fiscal year.
WBOK 1230AM on Facebook Watch
WBOK's Oliver Thomas interviews Audubon's Charles Allen on Mid-Barataria (starts around 2:20:00):
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The Mid-Barataria Sediment Division — Saving Southeastern Louisiana's Wetlands
Dr. Renfro explained to me that the Mid-Barataria Sediment Division will be built into the Mississippi River levee and can be opened and closed to divert freshwater, sediment, and nutrients out into the Barataria Basin. This will enable the creation of new wetlands while sustaining the existing wetlands in our region.
She explained that our levee system, which is vital for our survival, is causing the loss of the sediments that helped create and sustain Louisiana’s wetlands. “We’ve lost almost two thousand square miles of land, due to various things like rising sea level storm events. But one of the big reasons for this loss is that we’ve leveed the Mississippi River,” Dr. Renfro told me over the phone. Levees are critical for cities such as Baton Rouge, Shreveport, and New Orleans, especially when the rivers reach flood stage.
DEIS of Barataria Basin Diversion Project Sparks Concerns about Impacts to Plaq.
Full Plaquemines Gazette Story Below The Barataria Basin adjacent to Plaquemines Parish is about to undergo some “real change” in the name of coastal restoration. On March 10, the Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority board held a meeting to discuss the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releasing their “Draft Environmental Impact Statement” of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project.
While unable to totally cover every detail in the 5,800 page report, a general outline of the DEIS’s content was presented at the CPRA board meeting. Mainly, the different potential impacts resulting from the diversion—both positive and negative—were highlighted and explained. The mitigation strategies for the negative impacts were also explained at the board meeting. The main point to the CPRA board meeting (and the DEIS itself ) was to show that the predicated benefits of the diversion project greatly outweigh the negatives.
“This [diversion project] is going to change the Barataria Basin, but that’s what we want,” Executive Director of CPRA Bren Haase said. “Right now, it’s on a bad trajectory, we want to change to a good one.”
The diversion, occurring in Plaquemines right next to the community of Ironton, would cost approximately $1.5 billion to construct. On top of that $1.5 billion, there is another $305 million allocated as restitution for any communities or wildlife that are damaged by CPRA’s project. The diversion will be completely funded by settlement money (around $8 billion) BP must pay as compensation for the 2010 DeepWater Horizon oil spill.
According to the DEIS and CPRA, the diversion will create and sustain an estimated 17,300 acres of land in the Barataria Basin after 30 years and 13,400 acres after 50 years. While this alone is an accomplishment worthy of note, CPRA listed several additional benefits the diversion would bring to the southeastern Louisiana region.
Perhaps the most emphasized benefit is the increased storm surge protection. There would be a reduction of .5 to 1 foot of storm surge in “areas north of the diversion” (meaning, communities within the federal levee protection system in Orleans Parish). Populations of Large Mouth Bass, Red Drum, Mottled Duck, and Alligators would benefit from the restoration of marshes in the Barataria Basin.
Recreational activities such as duck hunting, bird watching, and fishing would benefit as well. And there are supposedly numerous economic benefits for the region that would come out of this diversion. For Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Orleans, and Jefferson Parishes, the DEIS and CPRA project a $1.4 billion increase in sales, $648 million increase in household earnings, $890 million in gross regional product, and the creation of nearly 12,400 jobs. Despite the excitement from CPRA and supporters of this project, the diversion is not without its drawbacks. As noted above, the storm surge protection offered by the diversion would mostly benefit communities north of the Barataria Basin in Orleans Parish. Plaquemines Parish, where the diversion itself is located, would not get those benefits. In fact, one of the negative impacts of the diversion would be “increased water levels” for communities to its south. CPRA noted 530 total properties that would be subject to increased water levels in Plaquemines, but “according to tax records” only 25% of those are likely to be occupied households. In general, the DEIS explains that the communities of Ironton, Myrtle Grove, Hermitage, Grand Bayou, and Happy Jack would be subject to worsened tidal “flooding” and “storm hazards” as a result of the diversion.
The DEIS heavily emphasized how the “low income and minority” community of Ironton would sustain “disproportionately high and adverse” construction impacts. To mitigate these effects, CPRA plans to employ several different strategies. This includes raising roads and “other infrastructure” that may need it or acquiring “properties of interest” through payment. “My main concern is that the DEIS is really not specific enough on the mitigation strategies. There are a bunch of possible strategies listed, but there’s no definitive plan.
How are residents supposed to react if they don’t know how they’re going to be affected?” Plaquemines representative on the CPRA board Bill Bubrig said. “What I’ve been told is that residents who have concerns should participate in the public comment process so that CPRA can consider their problems and figure out how to address them,” he noted. Residents can go to https://parkplanning. nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=100083 until May 4 to submit their comment on the DEIS and their concerns about the diversion.
There will also be a series of online public meetings on April 6 at 9 a.m., April 7 at 1 p.m. and April 8 at 6 p.m. Another of the negatives impacts—one that has been the center of much controversy involving CPRA recently—is the damage to the oyster and brown shrimp industries in the Barataria Basin. The sudden rush of fresh river water into the basin would mean the area could no longer sustain oysters or brown shrimp. To mitigate these effects, CPRA has set aside $33 million to assist those who depend on these industries for their livelihoods. For oyster fishermen, CPRA will establish new public seed ground lower in the basin (which is expected to become conducive to oyster growth with the advent of fresh water), enhance “broodstock reefs,” and help “transition to off bottom cultures.” Shrimpers would receive improved vessel refrigeration and “gear improvements” to “increase efficiency.”
During the March 10 CPRA meeting, President of The Save Louisiana Coalition, Captain George Ricks argued that, for the damage going to be inflicted on the brown shrimp industry in the basin, $33 million in mitigation is not nearly enough. John Tesvich of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force and Plaquemines Oyster Association noted that, despite the fact this diversion will decimate the oyster industry, CPRA has done little to help oyster fishermen.
“We [the oyster industry] definitely plan to comment [on the DEIS] and we have been commenting all along,” Tesvich said. “It’s disappointing but [CPRA] has never really taken our comments and concerns seriously.” “In general, we think the benefits are being overhyped and the negatives under played,” he added. There was also the explanation that the dolphin population, which has flourished in the saltier waters currently within the basin, would decrease (either killing them or forcing them to migrate) by possibly 30%. To combat this, $40 million is being put towards “monitoring” and “stewardship” efforts to protect dolphins. Throughout Haase's presentation of these impacts, there was a constant emphasis on the fact that these negative impacts were coming with or without the diversion. While the diversion certainly acts as an accelerant, the continued decay of the Barataria Basin would bring on these problems itself. Eventually, Haase argued, decay in the basin would become so advanced that it would be considered dead. The oyster industry, the brown shrimp industry, and the dolphin population, all are projected to die along with the basin if this diversion is not implemented.
Tesvich challenged this assessment and believes its an attempt by CPRA to avoid responsibility for their actions. “They have to own up to what they’re going to do. It’s a man-made project, trying to blame other natural factors will not hold weight,” he said. In terms of increased water levels in Plaquemines communities, Haase stated that with the expected intensification of climate change/ sea level rise, those impacts will be the “same with or without” the diversion after 50 years. Plaquemines Parish council members also expressed concerns about how the diversion will affect their constituents.
“Its like in 1927 when they blew up the [Caernarvon] levee to save New Orleans but flooded Plaquemines,” district 9 council member Mark “Hobbo” Cognevich said, referencing how, in order to protect New Orleans from The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, state officials blew up a levee down the river so the water would rush into Plaquemines and St. Bernard instead. “Whenever New Orleans is in danger, we end up suffering the consequences,” he said. “If you can’t tell, I’m against the diversion.”
District 8 council member Richie Blink offered a different perspective. “The diversion is definitely needed to save our coast, but there are some real social consequences to it. And CPRA may not be legally bound to do anything about it, ” he said.
“The [seafood industry] down here is one of the few industries where people can sustain themselves and have real autonomy. That is going to be taken away by the diversion.” “Right now, there aren’t enough mitigation strategies in place. There are a lot of ideas but no solid plan,” he concluded.