Substantial areas of interior emergent marsh on Marsh Island have been converted to open water, primarily because of Hurricane Lili (2002). Areas targeted under this project are those with the greatest historical land loss and within close proximity to East Cote Blanche Bay.
This project is designed to re-create brackish marsh habitat in the open water areas of the interior marsh primarily caused by hurricane damage. Based on 2007 aerial photography analysis, approximately 197 acres of marsh will be nourished and 165 acres of open water will be restored to interior emergent marsh habitat. The loss rates for the interior ponded areas are estimated to be reduced by 50 percent. This project provides a synergistic effect with CWPPRA’s Marsh Island Hydrologic Restoration (TV-14), a project constructed in December 2001.
This project is located in the Teche/Vermilion Basin at the east end of Marsh Island Wildlife Refuge southeast of Lake Sand in Iberia Parish, Louisiana.
The Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force approved funding for Engineering and Design at their February 2005 meeting. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, working through the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, completed the Engineering and Design of this project, and construction began in March 2010.
Aerial view of the east end of Marsh Island after commencement of construction activity.
This project is on Priority Project List 14.
The East Marsh Island Marsh Creation project’s three sponsors include:
- Federal Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Federal Sponsor: Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Local Sponsor: Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
View more data on the TV-21 project or other projects on CWPPRA’s webite.
CWPPRA 