Louisiana Releases Draft Annual Plan for Coastal Restoration and Protection
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org Jimmy Frederick, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 225.317.2046, jimmy.frederick@crcl.org John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 504.421.7348, jlopez@saveourlake.org Louisiana Releases Draft Annual Plan for Coastal Restoration and Protection Plan Includes CPRA’s Recommendations for Two Sediment Diversions (BATON ROUGE, La. – January 12, 2016) Last week, Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) released its …
Rising Mississippi River: Implications for Louisiana’s Vanishing Wetlands
Rising Mississippi River: Implications for Louisiana’s Vanishing Wetlands Expert Interview and B-Roll Opportunities Contact: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org Jimmy Frederick, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 225.317.2046, jimmy.frederick@crcl.org John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 504.421.7348, jlopez@saveourlake.org At 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 10, 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will open the Bonnet Carré Spillway, which is upriver from New Orleans, …
Heavy Rainfall Activates Early Flood Fight on Lower Mississippi River
As the Mississippi River high water event continues, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will soon open the Bonnet Carré Spillway, and potentially the Morganza Floodway, to help relieve pressure on river levees and prevent catastrophic flooding. During high-water events like this one, the river contains more water and carries more sediment than usual. Without restoration projects like sediment diversions in place to capture sediment, much of this essential component for restoring our coast is lost. In the future, when …
Latest Mississippi River Delta news: Dec. 30, 2015
General News: How Markets Can Restore Louisiana’s Marshes By Quin Hillyer, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 25, 2015. “Louisiana loses at least 25 square miles of coastal wetlands each year—a grievous destruction of ecologically crucial habitat and of natural buffers against catastrophic storm flooding. But a bold new project ought to teach environmentalists that the profit motive can work more efficiently to protect wetlands than punitive regulations and burdensome bureaucracies. In just six weeks this fall, a private company rebuilt about a …
Latest Mississippi River Delta news: Dec. 10, 2015
Move quickly to restore the coast By Editorial Page Staff, The Courier (Houma, La.). Dec. 9, 2015. *features Simone Maloz, Restore or Retreat “Spend coastal restoration money quickly and use it wisely. Even if we start now, scientists say it may be too late to do a great deal of good for the Louisiana coast. But, moving on the problem late and doing something is better than not moving at all…” (read more). Louisiana projects allocated $52 million on Wednesday …
The Pledges Are in, and the Winner Is… The Louisiana Coast!
In the lead-up to Louisiana’s fall elections, the Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition sponsored the Restore the Coast community engagement campaign, to highlight the important role Louisiana’s elected officials play in coastal restoration. This nonpartisan education campaign asked Louisiana voters to sign a pledge urging leaders to: be a voice for coastal restoration, protect existing and secure future coastal restoration funding, and support Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan. The goal of the campaign was to demonstrate the importance of coastal …
New sediment counter shows amount of uncaptured sediment passing through LA every second
There’s less sediment moving down the Mississippi River than there used to be. Much of that missing material is trapped behind dams built upriver of Louisiana. Despite the reduction in sediment it carries, the Mississippi is still mighty with approximately 90 million tons of sediment passing the city of Belle Chasse, La. each year1. Tragically, much of that mud and sand will be carried past the sediment-starved wetlands and barrier islands of the delta – where it could have great …
2015 Brings Momentum for the Louisiana Coast
By Emily Guidry Schatzel, Senior Communications Manager, Mississippi River Delta Restoration, National Wildlife Federation Louisiana’s Mississippi River Delta is a region in dire need of comprehensive restoration. We all know the harrowing statistic facing coastal Louisiana: every hour, a football field of land vanishes off the coast. According to historical averages, Louisiana loses 16 to 25 square miles per year. The rest of the Gulf, which is in many places still working to rebound economically and ecologically from the 2010 Gulf oil disaster, …
Coast 2050’s Lasting Impacts on Coastal Restoration
This post is part of a series on early restoration planning in Louisiana. Be sure to check out our previous posts: part one, part two and part three. Since the early 1990’s, the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Preservation, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) has been providing a steady funding stream for Louisiana coastal restoration, averaging about $45 million per year. Yet despite this funding commitment, at the time, there was still a void in actionable, systematic restoration planning for coastal Louisiana. Seeing …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: October 29, 2015
Fisherman disagree on whether Mississippi River diversions will improve coastal life in Louisiana By Amy Wold, The Advocate. October 27, 2015 “Capt. Ryan Lambert, of Cajun Fishing Adventures, said existing diversions off the river offer some of the best fishing in Louisiana and are proven to build land even when the water flow is small. It’s very hard for me to sit back and listen to someone say the Mississippi River is poison,” Lambert said. “I work in the diversions …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: October 23, 2015
Coastal update a good tool for candidates *features Restore or Retreat Editorial, Houma Courier. October 22, 2015 “If there is one overriding issue that affects nearly every other here in south Louisiana, it is coastal restoration. Coastal restoration plays a role in everything from economic development to flood risk to building codes.So if there is one topic that should be front and center for public officials and those who wish to be public officials, that is it.” (Read More) …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: October 22, 2015
Compromise struck on La. 1 elevation project funding; showdown vote on coastal restoration spending avoided *features Steve Cochran, EDF & MRD statement By Amy Wold, The Advocate. October 21, 2015 “The resolution presented today is an example of diverse coastal interests working together cooperatively on practical solutions that can help ensure a viable future for our delta and other vital coastal areas, our communities, and the economic activities that serve the state and nation,” according to a joint statement from …
Louisiana Wins!
Louisiana Wins! With a flurry of last minute discussions among members of our campaign, America’s Wetland Foundation, the LA-1 Coalition, and the CPRA Board – we were able to come to an agreement that replaced the original draft resolution that would have diverted coastal restoration money to LA-1, with a resolution directing CPRA staff to develop a prioritization process for coastal infrastructure projects that could spend up to 10% of available funds under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act …
Conservation Groups Pleased to See Gulf Restoration Efforts Advance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Jimmy Frederick, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 225.767.4181, jimmy.frederick@crcl.org John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 504.421.7348, jlopez@saveourlake.org Conservation Groups Pleased to See Gulf Restoration Efforts Advance NRDA Trustees Release 1,500-Page Draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (NEW ORLEANS – October 5, 2015) Today, the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees released …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: October 2, 2015
Our Views: Coastal funding shouldn’t suffer because of failure to properly budget highway projects The Advocate, October 1, 2015 “The Jindal proposal will create a terrible precedent, that money from the Coastal Trust Fund can be used for politically popular projects. Access to Port Fourchon is vital to the oil and gas industry, and that is why we support the expensive elevation project. What we don’t support is sacrificing our future credibility for federal aid for the cost because Jindal …