Latest Mississippi River Delta news: Dec. 14, 2015

Reconsider the Oyster
By Arielle Milkman, The Morning News. Dec. 14, 2015.
*features the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
“Tracking a single oyster from the Gulf to Bourbon Street, to a 13,000-ton pile of shells, provides a tour through Louisiana’s precarious coastal economy…” (read more).

Committee recommends coastal restoration projects in Lafourche
By Meredith Burns, The Daily Comet. Dec. 13, 2015.
*features Simone Maloz, Restore or Retreat
“Two proposed coastal restoration projects in south Lafourche have moved a step closer to receiving money for engineering and design…” (read more).

Study: Piling up sand to restore coast also caused sinking
By Cain Burdeau, The Associated Press. Dec. 11, 2015.
“A new study underscores the unique difficulties Louisiana faces in maintaining its fragile delta and keeping the sea at bay: Researchers found work to replenish an eroding shoreline by pumping onto it massive amounts of sand itself caused the land to sink…” (read more).

It’ll take more than common sense to save Louisiana’s coast
By Keith Magill, Executive Editor. The Daily Comet. Dec. 12, 2015.
“Scientists have learned something interesting, though not surprising, from a $200 million coastal restoration project underway in southern Lafourche Parish…” (read more).

New report finds that most sediment that replenishes marshland comes from the Mississippi River
By Amy Wold, The Advocate. Dec. 12, 2015.
“A new report published in Nature acknowledges that while hurricanes contribute a significant amount of sediment to marshes as waves lap onshore, it’s the Mississippi River that contributes most for wetland development…” (read more).

Pilot project plugs holes in Gulf Waterway in Lafourche Parish
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. Dec. 11, 2015.
“Using recycled plastic mats and native plants, a team of major corporations and non-profit organizations led by the America’s Wetland Foundation has embarked on a pilot project to restore eroded embankments along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Lafourche Parish. The project will plug holes in a section of the canal on the western edge of the open-water Delta Farms area, slowing erosion and saltwater intrusion into adjacent lands…” (read more).

Shoreline stabilization may be model for Intracoastal Waterway projects
By Meredith Burns, The Daily Comet. Dec. 10, 2015.
“Almost a decade ago, Louisiana Delta Farms landowners built a roughly 6,000 foot berm between their property and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in the hopes of protecting their freshwater marshes and attracting more ducks…” (read more).