What Are Supporters Saying About Sediment Diversions?
From local community members to regional leaders: The future of our coast is tied to the Mighty Mississippi River!
After decades of work, a major milestone for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion is underway with the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Learn more about the project here | Show YOUR support for these critical projects to restore our coast
Skip to a section
Quotes from Coastal Leaders
We’d love to share your voice! Interested? Contact info@mississippiriverdelta.org.
“The Coastal Master Plan estimates we could lose 2,250 square miles of the coast in the next 50 years–that’s in addition to the nearly 1,900 square miles we have lost since 1932. This problem isn’t going away. If you think it’s bad now, just wait.”– Denise Reed, PHD
|
|
|
|
“We have no time to lose. Our home, our food and our very way of life depend on a healthy and thriving coast. This is our moment to turn the tide on land loss and protect our communities, our culture, and the bounty of our wetlands.”
“Using the Mississippi River is our best bet to save the coast. This is the way Mother Nature intended it to be before we built levees. Using the river to deliver freshwater and sediment into the estuary will create habitat for all species of fish, crab, shrimp and waterfowl and give us lines of defense from storm surge, which is so important to keep living in south Louisiana.” 
“Losing our coast will impact how we live and where we live. Our economy, education, housing, food and recreation are all under siege without innovative projects like the Mid-Baratria Sediment Diversion to help protect our heritage, our culture and our future!”Scientists for Diversions
A group of more than 55 natural and physical scientists, engineers and social scientists with a combined 1,300 years of research and technical experience related to Louisiana’s coast have co-authored and signed a letter voicing support based on their scientific knowledge and expertise for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the single largest ecosystem restoration project in U.S. history. The group’s collective interdisciplinary work has informed the state’s efforts on the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan and other coastal restoration and protection efforts.
| Alexander S. Kolker Associate Professor, Coastal Geologist |
Donald Boesch Professor Emeritus, Marine and Environmental Science |
Ehab Meselhe, Professor Water Resources Engineer, Tulane University |
| John Day Professor Emeritus, Coastal Scientist, Louisiana State University |
Sam Bentley, Professor Geology, Louisiana State University |
Kim de Mutsert Assistant Professor, Fish Ecology, University of Southern Mississippi |
| Caz Taylor Associate Professor, Ecologist, Tulane University |
Gary Shaffer Professor, Wetland Restoration, Southeastern Louisiana University |
Donald Baltz Professor Emeritus, Fish Ecology, Louisiana State University (Retired) |
| Victor H. Rivera-Monroy Associate Professor, Wetland Ecology |
Thomas C. Michot Research Scientist, University of Louisiana (Retired) |
Torbjörn Törnqvist Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Tulane University |
| G. Paul Kemp Adjunct Research Professor, Coastal Oceanography and Geology, Louisiana State University |
Kehui Xu Associate Professor,Sediment Transport and Coastal Processes, Louisiana State University |
Thomas W. Sherry Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University |
| J. V. Remsen Emeritus Professor of Natural Science and Curator of Birds, Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University |
Jennifer O. Coulson Adjunct Faculty, Ornithologist, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,Tulane University |
Gary Peterson Research Associate, College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University(Retired) |
| David A. White Wetlands Ecologist,Loyola University New Orleans (retired) |
Davin Wallace Associate Professor, Marine Geology, School of Ocean Science & Engineering, University of Southern Mississippi |
James Morris Distinguished Professor Emeritus,College of Arts and Sciences,University of South Carolina |
| Clint Willson Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University |
Harry Roberts Boyd Professor Emeritus, Coastal-Marine Geology, Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University (Retired) |
Matthew Hiatt Assistant Professor, Coastal Hydrology, Louisiana State University |
| Loretta L. Battaglia Associate Professor, Wetland Ecology, Southern Illinois University |
Allyse Ferrara Professor of Biological Sciences, Fisheries |
Jorge A. Villa Assistant Professor, Environmental Sciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
| Richard Keim Professor of Forest and Wetland Ecohydrology, Louisiana State University |
Brian Roberts Associate Director of Science, Ecosystem Ecology and Biogeochemistry |
Zoe Hughes Research Assistant Professor, Coastal Geomorphology, Boston University |
| Piers Chapman Research Professor, Marine Science, Texas A&M University |
Denise Reed Research Professor Gratis, Coastal Geomorphologist, University of New Orleans |
James Nelson Assistant Professor, Ecosystems Ecology, University of Louisiana Lafayette |
| Steven Lohrenz Professor, Marine Science & Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth |
Andrew Baldwin Professor of Wetland Ecology |
John T. Wells Dean and Director, Deltaic Processes, Virginia Institute of Marine Science |
| Peter Goodwin President and Professor, River Morphology and Tidal Wetlands |
John M. Barry Distinguished Scholar, Tulane University School of Public health and Tropical Medicine |
Donata Henry Senior Professor of Practice, Ecology, Tulane University |
| Sunshine Van Bael Associate Professor, Wetland Ecology, Tulane University |
Stephen Formel Microbial Ecologist, Tulane University |
Henry Bart Director of Biodiversity, Ecology and Systematics of Freshwater Fishes and Amphibians |
| William J. Platt Disturbance ecology of coastal ecosystems, Louisiana State University (retired) |
Nan Walker Professor, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences and Coastal Studies Institute |
Tracy Quirk Associate Professor, Wetland Ecologist, Louisiana State University |
| Elizabeth Kimbrough Ecologist , Microbial Ecology |
Emily Farrer Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University |
John Lopez Delta Science LLC |
| Robert A. Thomas Professor, Coastal Educator, Loyola University New Orleans |
Peter H. Yaukey Chair of Department of Biological and Physical Sciences and Professor of Biology, University of Holy Cross |
Don Hauber Biology Department Chair and Provost Distinguished Professor II, Loyola University New Orleans |
| Paul Barnes Professor and J.H. Mullahy Chair in Environmenal Biology, Plant Ecology and Global Change Biology, Loyola University New Orleans |
Frank Jordan Professor of Biological Sciences, Loyola University New Orleans |
Robert Moreau Manager of Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station, Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, Southeastern Louisiana University |
| Edward B Overton Environmental Chemist, Department of Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University (retired) |
Hunters & Anglers for Diversions
Sportsmen & women know the river is essential to healthy and diverse wildlife habitat.
The undersigned sportsmen, sporting businesses and organizations would like to thank you for your support of coastal restoration. We are writing today in support of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. This game-changing restoration project is the single largest ecosystem restoration project in U.S. history, and implementation will ensure future generations of hunters and anglers can enjoy the bounty our Louisiana coastal wetlands have traditionally offered.
| Warren Coco Go-Devil Manufacturers of Louisiana |
Ryan Lambert Cajun Fishing Adventures |
Jim Ronquest Rich-N-Tone Calls |
| Mike Benge Delacroix Corporation |
David Muth National Wildlife Federation |
Steve Bowman Bass Anglers Sportsman Society |
| Wes Higgins Bill Lewis Lures |
Allen Hughes Banded Holdings, Inc. |
Chris Macaluso Theodore Roosevelt Conservations Partnership |
| Bryan Brasher BASS Times Magazine |
Marissa Turner The Outdoor Cooking Show |
Erik Guggenheim Delta Structural Technology, LLC |
| Mike Mcnett USAngling Confederation |
Jimmy Babin Creative Cajun Cooking |
Erin Brown and Bill Cooksey Vanishing Paradise |
| Eric Cosby Top Brass Tackle |
Travis Thompson Cast & Blast Florida |
Mike McNett US Ice Team |
Louisiana is Pro-Sediment Diversion
According to a 2019 poll of likely Louisiana voters, 82% of respondents support sediment diversion projects to build and maintain coastal wetlands over time and 96% believe it is important that Louisiana’s elected officials make decisions based on the best available science.
 |
 |
See the River in Action
See how the river is building and restoring marsh across the delta in these new short videos. Are you interested in taking a field trip to the marsh? Let us know at info@mississippiriverdelta.org.
- Leading Scientist in the Wax Lake Delta
- Sportsman leader on his successful Plaquemines Parish project
Mid-Barataria Supporter Profiles
"It is human intervention which is preventing sediment from rebuilding the coast, and human intervention which could make a significant step toward healing and restoring the coast." – Rev. Ellen Blue, PH.D., Biggs Professor Emerita, Phillips Theological Seminary Clergy, Louisiana United Methodist Chrurch
Letters & Opinions
Landowners, non-profit leaders and more share their voice in support of Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion! Do you want to write a letter? We can help! Contact info@mississippiriverdelta.org.
- Mayor LaToya Cantrell: We have to use the river sediments to protect our coastline
- Chip Kline: Coastal chief: Louisiana needs big diversion projects to restore wetlands
- Ted Falgout: Guest column: River diversion important to Louisiana coast
- Gay Lebreton and Brandon Nelson: Guest column: Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion will build land, and economy
- Kimberly Davis Reyher and Kristi Trail: Guest column: Many ways to help the coast, but sediment diversion is a big and important way
- Mark Davis, Director, Tulane Center for Environmental Law: More than past time to move with Mid-Barataria diversion
- Steve Cochran: The Mississippi River is our strongest asset to hold onto our Coast, but we must use it
- Charles Allen: Louisiana’s shrinking wetlands puts communities and cultures at risk