Letter: Wetlands require urgent action
Print
Email
Save
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
Re: “Official: La. to expand coastal commitment” — printed Feb. 25, Acadiana edition.
The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program is pleased to see there is a very apparent new sense of urgency among our public officials that has driven our state and federal agencies into new restoration and flood protection planning efforts, as read in “The Advocate’s Acadiana edition article “Official: La. to expand coastal commitment,” on Feb. 25. We applaud the Governor’s Office for looking at large-scale restoration projects.
Restoration must proceed quickly, and we cannot afford delays that would be caused by using strategies that would result in long, drawn-out disagreements. Some proposed restoration strategies would overpower or eradicate our way of life. We just cannot afford to lose any more time debating controversial proposals.
With the current state of our wetlands and the vulnerability of our coastal communities, we must act immediately using publicly acceptable and proven technology on a large scale to build land now. Existing sediment delivery technology should be utilized in a large-scale effort across the wetlands. This method is scientifically proven, adaptable, cost-effective, publicly acceptable and builds land quickly
Sediment delivery using dredges, pumps and pipelines is a common technology used around the world, but has only been used in Louisiana on a small scale. Sediments harvested from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya River beds and offshore deposits can rebuild the wetlands, natural ridges and barrier islands. Currently, sediment is being dredged from the Mississippi River, for navigation purposes, and could be used beneficially by directing it through a dedicated infrastructure of pipelines that would transport the sediment to exactly where it is needed to rebuild our coast. The state master plan proposes using this technique to restore thousands of acres of marsh and miles of ridges. This could be done most quickly and effectively if a serious commitment was made to optimize the technology and view the projects holistically. The sediment delivery process supports people who depend on our fisheries and wetlands to continue their way of life.
The use of strategies to sustain what we would rebuild is also important. As the fresh marsh systems are rebuilt with sediment delivery technology, we must use small- to medium-sized river diversions — fresh water — to sustain them. By contrast, large diversions threaten estuarine fisheries habitats with questionable benefits that are at best long term. There are also still contentious questions concerning large diversions.
The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program is happy to see an administration committed to thinking big about coastal restoration with the drive to implement large-scale projects. Our livelihoods depend on this type of thinking … our estuary … our home … our culture … our lives.
Kerry St. Pé, program director
Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program
Thibodaux
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
