Restore the Mississippi Delta Responds to Suspended Permit for Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion

(New Orleans, LA – April 26, 2025) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suspended a permit for Louisiana’s keystone restoration project, the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion.

Using the river to restore Louisiana’s disappearing coast has long been one of Restore the Mississippi River Delta’s primary goals. The coalition of national and local conservation organizations comprised of the National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society and Pontchartrain Conservancy released the following statement in response to the suspended permit:

“The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion (MBSD) has been a cornerstone of every Coastal Master Plan since 2007, supported by robust science, overwhelming public support and bipartisan leadership. Recent political shifts from leadership on this project – and the potential implications for Louisiana’s world-renowned coastal program—are deeply concerning for Louisiana’s future.

Dangerously mischaracterizing critical aspects of the project and the engaging in year-long efforts to delay its implementation are misguided actions that squander valuable time and threaten the hundreds of millions of dollars already invested in our coast – not only in this project but also in other restoration and protection efforts that have been constructed and planned around the assumed completion of this project. These actions jeopardize our communities and undermine the scientific foundation of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan.

Now our state’s leadership and others are working behind closed doors to cancel this $3 billion cornerstone project – which our state once rightly lauded as the largest single ecosystem restoration project in U.S. history, in a place losing land faster than anywhere else on the planet. The Landry administration is threatening this project without peer-reviewed scientific and engineering reports independently verified through the original methodology, all of which undermines the very process essential for building and restoring Louisiana’s coast.

Our coastal program has always successfully prioritized science and the public good over politics. We cannot afford to play political games with the future of Louisiana.”

Media Contact:
Emily Guidry Schatzel
National Wildlife Federation
225.253.9781
schatzele@nwf.org

About Restore the Mississippi River Delta
Restore the Mississippi River Delta is working to protect people, wildlife and jobs by reconnecting the river with its wetlands. As our region faces the crisis of land loss, we offer science-based solutions through a comprehensive approach to restoration. Composed of conservation, policy, science and outreach experts from Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation and Pontchartrain Conservancy, we are located in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; and around the United States. Learn more at MississippiRiverDelta.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.