WETLAND LOSS ON TWO FRONTS

A couple of weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to hop in a five-passenger seaplane and fly over some of the hurricane ravaged coast of southeastern Louisiana, including the devastated Lower 9^th Ward of New Orleans, disturbed wetlands, hard-hit fishing communities, and the ever-widening MRGO. Now, as y’all have hopefully heard, congress has de-authorized the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) as a deep-draft navigation channel. Now a plan has to be developed to effectively close it. So, during this flyover, I was given visual conformation that this plan is extremely necessary…I was amazed to see how wide the MRGO really was. Originally MRGO was dug to be 650 feet wide, but due to wave action and erosion, it spreads out to over 2000 feet wide. This widening has increased salt water intrusion that has subsequently contributed to the destruction of our coastal wetlands. I have heard this statistic before, but when I saw where the banks of the MRGO were completely eroded away, allowing the salty ocean water from Lake Borgne to pour in, I was flabbergasted.


In order to start rebuilding the wetlands of southeastern Louisiana we need to first make sure that no more wetlands are needlessly destroyed. This destruction can come from saltwater intrusion or from newly permitted development. A prime example of destructive development came across my desk a week ago. Apparently Newport Environmental Services is requesting a permit to destroy over 200 acres of wetlands right where the MRGO and Intracoastal Water Way meet…in order to dig a landfill! While I acknowledge that there is a lot of debris in the New Orleans metro area that needs to go somewhere, destroying wetlands that could buffer neighboring communities from flooding from storms and subsequent surges is ludicrous.

So as we bask in the victory of the de-authorization of the MRGO, we must remain vigilant to make sure that the closing of the canal is done in a way that best protects our coast and communities. Our congressional victory is a good step, but we must go further and prevent projects that will continue wetland destruction and the further erosion of our coastal resources.

Matt Rota is GRN's Assistant Director of the Water Resources Program