Bayou LaLoutre Ridge Restoration and Marsh Creation

Historic and current ridge habitat loss occurs in the form of subsidence and shoreline erosion along Bayou La Loutre. The shoreline erosion is caused by increased boat traffic diverted due to the closure of the MRGO channel. Ridge habitat consists of Live Oak Hackberry Maritime forest which is utilized by trans-gulf migratory bird species as a first and last stop when crossing the Gulf of Mexico. This critical habitat is rated as S1-Most Critically Imperiled (State Natural Heritage Program) and S2 priority by the state of Louisiana. Interior marsh loss along Lena Lagoon is caused by subsidence, sediment deprivation, increased wave fetch and construction of access and navigational canals. The integrity of the Lena Lagoon shoreline has been breached, and loss of this wetland buffer will expose the La Loutre ridge to highly erosional winter storm events.

The goal of the project is to create an approximately 31.7 acre ridge feature with material from bucket dredging Bayou La Loutre. Additionally dredged material from Lake Borgne will create 163 acres of marsh and nourish approximately 258 acres of marsh along Lena Lagoon (421 acres total).

The proposed project will create approximately 5.46 miles (28,855 ft) of ridge along Bayou La Loutre and 24.4 acres of Live Oak/Hackberry Maritime forest habitat. The ridge habitat will be built centerline along the bank of the bayou. The structure will have a +4 elevation with a 5:1 slope on the bayou side and 3:1 slope on the marsh side. Additionally the newly created ridge will include herbaceous and woody plantings with smooth cord plantings along the toe. The Lena Lagoon site will create and nourish approximately 421 acres of marsh using sediment dredged from Lake Borgne. Lena Lagoon will have a semi-confined south and east flank and a fully confined north flank. Containment will be degraded as necessary to re-establish hydrologic connectivity with adjacent wetlands.

This project is located in Region 1, Lake Pontchartrain Basin and Breton Basin, St. Bernard Parish.

This project was approved for Phase I Engineering and Design in January 2017 and is on Priority Project List (PPL) 26.

The Bayou LaLoutre Ridge Restoration and Marsh Creation project sponsors include:

• Federal Sponsor: National Resources Conservation Service
• Local Sponsor: Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

Keep up with this project and other CWPPRA projects on the project page.

 

 

Shoreline Protection

CWPPRA Restoration Technique: Shoreline Protection

Louisiana’s shorelines are eroding at a drastic pace, some at rates up to 50 feet per year. The fertile but fragile soils found in the wetlands are susceptible to wave energy. As land is lost, water bodies merge together, which can increase wave fetch and shoreline erosion. Behind these shorelines lie communities, highways, and infrastructure that are at risk of washing away.

Various techniques to defend the coastline have been tested and applied under CWPPRA. Rock revetments, oyster reefs, concrete panels, and other fabricated materials have been constructed along otherwise unstable shorelines to abate wave energy and reduce erosion. These structures are designed to break waves, and they often trap waterborne sediments behind the structures that, over time, can become new land.

Through the course of the CWPPRA program, advancements have been made in shoreline structures that have helped maintain natural processes while providing critical protection. Such advancements have included using lighter-weight materials that require less maintenance and can be constructed on organic sediments. Other advancements include low-relief structures that are designed to trap sediments and natural breakwaters such as reefs that can self-maintain and support other ecological functions. Other natural shoreline protection measures include vegetative plantings, whose roots help secure soils and can promote accretion. These projects are implemented with consideration for minimizing impacts to the surrounding environment. Although some shoreline structures may look foreign in a natural landscape, they are necessary features that physically protect communities and hold wetlands in place by mitigating the harsh forces that move to destroy them.

BA-26 Barataria Bay Waterway East Side Shoreline Protection

 

Bayou Decade Ridge and Marsh Creation

The Terrebonne Basin is an abandoned delta complex, characterized by a thick section of unconsolidated sediments that are undergoing dewatering and compaction, contributing to high subsidence, and a network of old distributary ridges extending southward from Houma. Historically, subsidence and numerous oil and gas canals and pipelines in the area have contributed significantly to wetland losses. Since 1932, the Terrebonne Basin has lost approximately 20% of its wetlands. Current loss rates range from approximately 4,500 to 6,500 acres/year. This loss amounts to about130,000 acres over the next 20 years. One-third of the Terrebonne Basin’s remaining wetlands would be lost to open water by the year 2040. The wetland loss rate in the area is -0.79%/year based on USGS data from 1984 to 2016.

The proposed project’s primary feature is to create and/
or nourish approximately 504 acres of intermediate marsh adjacent to Lake De Cade and restore 11,726 linear feet of ridge habitat along the northern bank of Bayou De Cade. To achieve this, sediment will be hydraulically pumped from a borrow source in Lake De Cade. The borrow area in Lake De Cade would be located and designed in a manner to avoid and minimize environmental impacts (e.g., to submerged aquatic vegetation and water quality) to the maximum extent practicable. Containment dikes will be constructed around the marsh creation area to retain sediment during pumping. No later than three years post construction, the containment dikes will be degraded and/or gapped. Additionally, the newly constructed marsh will be planted after construction to stabilize the platform and reduce time for full vegetation. It is anticipated that material for the ridge feature will be mechanically dredged from adjacent areas within Bayou De Cade and/or the marsh area and lifted to a crown elevation of +5.0 feet, 25 feet wide, and will be planted.

This project is located in Region 3, Terrebonne Basin, Terrebonne Parish, Lake Mechant Mapping Unit.

This project was approved for Phase I Engineering and Design in January 2017 and is on Priority Project List (PPL) 26.

The Bayou Decade Ridge and Marsh Creation project sponsors include:

• Federal Sponsor: National Marine Fisheries Service
• Local Sponsor: Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

Keep up with this project and other CWPPRA projects on the project page.

Wetland Plants

Plants are a vital piece of healthy and sustainable wetland ecosystems. Plants are the base of the food chain and can build new layers of organic material on top of wetlands which helps them keep pace with subsidence and rising waters. Wetland vegetation reduces erosion primarily by dampening and absorbing wave and current energy and by binding and stabilizing the soil with roots. Coastal wetland plant species are indicators of soil and hydrologic conditions. The amount and salinity of water in an area influence which plants grow there. Scientists often classify Louisiana marshes into four types: fresh, intermediate, brackish, and saline.

The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act puts native wetland plant benefits to use through restoration techniques that include vegetative plantings. Vegetative planting projects are used both alone and in conjunction with barrier island restoration, marsh creation, shoreline protection, and sediment and nutrient trapping restoration techniques. These projects use flood-and salt-tolerant native marsh plants that will hold sediments together and stabilize the soil with their roots as they become established in a new area.

BA-38 Barataria Barrier Island Complex Project: Pelican Island and Pass La Mer to Chaland Pass Restoration

 

 

 

 

LEEC 2017

The Louisiana Environmental Education Commission, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Environmental Education Association hosted the 20th Environmental Education State Symposium on February 3-4, 2017 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton in Baton Rouge, La. The theme of this year’s symposium was “protecting Louisiana’s endangered species.”

The Louisiana Environmental Education Commission (LEEC) provides environmental education news from across Louisiana, including information on environmental education programs, workshops, and grant opportunities.  The state symposium furnished opportunities for formal and non-formal environmental educators from Louisiana and surrounding states to meet and share teaching techniques as well as multiple concurrent sessions for various topics and grade levels. Keynote speaker Dr. Jessica Kastler, Coordinator of Program Development at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory’s Marine Education Center, used individual cases of endangered species to engage the audience in explorations of the process of science while cultivating environmental stewardship. In addition to the keynote speech, presenters in 15 concurrent sessions provided lesson demonstrations, hands-on workshops, and/or exemplary programs. The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act Public Outreach Staff was among exhibitors with a multitude of materials to assist teachers of all grade levels in furthering their students’ knowledge in environmental education and coastal protection.

CWPPRA

Are you aware of CWPPRA’s Programmatic Benefits?

• Proven Track Record of Project Construction– Over 25 years, 210 approved projects benefiting more than 1,344 square miles (800,000 acres); 108 constructed (16 under construction).
• Responsive– CWPPRA projects are constructed in 5 to 7 years.
• Interagency Approach– Cost-effective projects developed by an experienced interagency team (5 Federal, 1 State agencies).
• Community Involvement– Local governments and citizens contribute to project nominations and development.
• Predictable Funding– Federal Sport Fish & Boating Safety Trust Fund funding to 2021 through fishing equipment taxes and small engine fuel taxes.
• Fiscally Responsible– CWPPRA projects are cost-effective.
• Science Based– CWPPRA’s monitoring program (Coastwide Referencing Monitoring System-CRMS). Demonstration projects “field-test” restoration techniques for future restoration project success.
• Complementary– CWPPRA projects complement other large-scale restoration efforts (i.e., Coastal Impact Assistance Program, State Master Plan, BP DWH Oil Spill Early Restoration and the RESTORE Act).

CWPPRA has been and will continue to be the primary source of practical experience, learning, and agency expertise regarding coastal restoration in Louisiana.

 

Northwest Turtle Bay Marsh Creation

Historic wetland loss in the area stems from shoreline erosion along Turtle Bay and interior marsh loss from subsidence, sediment deprivation, and construction of oil and gas canals. Based on the hyper-temporal analysis conducted by USGS for the extended project boundary, loss rates in the area are estimated to be -0.83% per year for the period 1984 to 2015.

The primary goal is to re-create marsh habitat in the open water areas and nourish existing marsh within the project area. The specific goal of the project is to create approximately 700 acres of marsh with dredged material from Turtle Bay or Little Lake. The total project area is 798 acres, but the entire area will not be filled with dredged material.

The proposed project would create approximately 484 acres and nourish approximately 216 acres. Existing canal spoil banks, emergent marsh, and limited segments of containment dikes will be used to guide the distribution of the dredged material in the western fill area. Complete perimeter containment dikes will be utilized for the eastern fill area. Containment dikes will be gapped to reestablish hydrologic connectivity with adjacent wetlands.

The project will work synergistically with several existing and planned projects on the Barataria Basin Landbridge, an important landscape feature across the central Barataria Basin.

This project is located in Region 2, Barataria Basin, Jefferson Parish, northwest of Turtle Bay.

Northwest Turtle Bay Marsh Creation is on Priority Project List (PPL) 21 and was approved for Phase II Construction by the CWPPRA Task Force in January of 2017.

Northwest Turtle Bay Marsh Creation project sponsors include:

• Federal Sponsor: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Local Sponsor: Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority 

Keep up with this project and other CWPPRA projects on the project page.

CWPPRA

What are the strengths and the successes of CWPPRA?

• Addresses the urgent need for on-the-ground coastal restoration in Louisiana
• Constructs coastal restoration projects that protect critically impaired wetland areas
• To date, has constructed 108 projects with a total of 152 active projects that will protect and restore approximately 100,000 acres of land
• Has 25 years of experience in coastal restoration, acting as the State’s only consistent Federal restoration funding authority
• Upon completion, projects provide benefits which meet local and state restoration planning goals
• Initiated and supports the State’s only coastwide monitoring program to evaluate the efficacy of restoration projects on an ecosystem scale
• Serves as the foundation for the development of restoration science and identification of project needs that have become the platform for other restoration funding programs

Visit the CWPPRA project page to learn more about successful projects in your area.

CWPPRA Project Construction

Did you know:

CWPPRA projects are constructed within 5-7 years from initiating engineering and design.

CWPPRA projects are built in a series of phases. The first in the series of phases is Phase Zero which includes conceptual project development. Once a project is approved through the CWPPRA selection process, the project undergoes two subsequent phases to completion. Following the initial phase is Phase One where a combination of pre-construction data collection and engineering and design is incorporated. Lastly, Phase Two encompasses construction, project management, construction supervision and inspection,  and operations, maintenance, and monitoring or OM&M. CWPPRA serves as the foundation for the development of restoration science and identification of project needs that have become the platform for other restoration funding programs. Over 25 years, the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act has authorized 210 projects, benefiting approximately 100,000 acres.

Managing Agencies

For 25 years, the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act has provided the only joint Federal/State coastal restoration effort with a predictable and recurring funding stream designed to restore the vanishing wetlands of coastal Louisiana. The CWPPRA program continues to pursue a full slate of coastal restoration activities, and its progress and experience provide the foundation for restoration supported by one-time funding from various other sources. CWPPRA represents a collaborative effort and is managed by a Task Force comprised of five federal agencies and the State of Louisiana. CWPPRA’s Managing Agencies include:

U.S. Department of the Army – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Region 6

U.S. Department of Interior – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture – Natural Resource Conservation Service

U.S. Department of Commerce – NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service

State of Louisiana – Governor’s Office

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is the local cost-share partner that matches 15% of CWPPRA’s federal funding.