Latest Mississippi River Delta News: August 26, 2015
Decade after Katrina, efforts aim to restore Louisiana coast
*features Steve Cochran, EDF
By Randy Lee Loftin, Dallas News. August 25, 2015
“What the Louisiana coast needs, just about everyone agrees, is multiple lines of defense against storms — starting with the ones nature put in place. Coastal wetlands help buffer big storms before they hit the mainland by absorbing some of the power of waves. Some research says storm surge, the dramatic rise in water levels pushed by hurricane winds, can be reduced by a foot for every mile of intact wetlands that greet the storm…” (Read More)
Wake Up with Al – The Wetlands and Hurricane Katrina (video)
*features Doug Meffert, NAS
Wake Up with Al. August 26, 2015
“Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast more than $14.5 billion has been used to construct an upgraded levee system to better protect its residents and their property.
However, scientists say the best way to protect from future storms is with multiple lines of defense anchored by a restored coast, and they claim the coast is still facing significant land loss.” (Read More)
Will New Orleans Survive the Next Katrina?
By Tim McDonnell, Mother Jones. August 26, 2015
“Either way, the Louisiana coast is now a massive laboratory for the kinds of measures that coastal cities like New York and Miami will need to survive climate change. For Dupre, the stakes are clear: “If I’m not successful, my whole culture disappears.” (Read More)
Designing the Resilient Coast of the Future
By Kate Ascher & David Van Der Leer, Next CIty. August 25, 2015
“Ten years after Hurricane Katrina, the aftermath of the storm remains visceral to even the distant observer. Few people outside Louisiana, however, realize that the city’s future depends in large part on what happens some 80 miles to the southeast, where the Mississippi River meets the sea. Along this river, decades of infrastructure have crippled the Delta’s natural regenerative, land-building systems, withering its wetlands. With these protective lands diminished, Katrina’s surge rolled unstopped into the heart of New Orleans.” (Read More)
Help us continue our recovery, President Obama: Editorial
By Editorial Board, The Times-Picayune. August 26, 2015
“Our state has put together a $50 billion, 50-year master plan to rebuild barrier islands, marshland and beaches and strengthen flood protection. Louisiana voters passed a constitutional amendment dedicating future offshore royalties to coastal restoration. Fines from the BP spill also will be spent on restoration.
But the revenue-sharing money is a key component, and it has been distressing to see you suggest taking it away from us.” (Read More)
New Orleans safer after Katrina, but not safe: Our View
By Editorial Board, USA Today. August 25, 2015
“The major unfinished business is rebuilding the natural buffer between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico, where wetlands, barrier islands and ridges once absorbed some of the force of hurricanes before they reached the city. Land built up over centuries by the natural flooding of the sediment-rich Mississippi River has been lost as levees tamed regular flooding and canals cut through the wetlands, helping turn them back into open water at the rate of a football field every hour, and 17 square miles every year.” (Read More)
Cajuns losing Louisiana island home to erosion
By Loic Hofstedt, Business Insider. August 25, 2015
“Over the years, the taming of the mighty Mississippi River slowed the influx of fresh sediment and water that once sustained the coastal delta. Then the oil and gas companies started cutting shipping and access channels that helped salt water from the Gulf of Mexico reach the fragile marshes. By the time Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, the coast was already in deep trouble.” (Read More)
Aerial planting of mangrove seeds proving to be effective method of protecting struggling marshes in Louisiana
By Amy Wold, The Advocate. August 26, 2015
“Mangroves are good for stabilizing salt marsh areas because of their substantial root systems, some of which stick above ground like a cypress tree. These root structures not only offer stability to the plant against storm waves but also are good at trapping sediment to help the plants keep up with sea level rise, Day said.” (Read More)
New Orleans launches resilience roadmap to tackle climate and social challenges
By Tom Dart, The Guardian. August 26, 2015
“Conceived as a roadmap that highlights priority areas and seeks to close gaps in existing plans, the strategy proposes 41 actions designed to make the city more equitable, adaptable and prosperous, from promoting energy efficiency to enlarging the public transportation network to establishing personal emergency savings accounts to boosting resources to combat the erosion of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, which are a vital line of defense against severe weather.” (Read More)