FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1, 2026
Media Contacts:
Dean Wilson, Executive Director of ABK, enapay3@aol.org, (225) 692-4114
Brennan Spoor, Staff Attorney for ABK, brennan@basinkeeper.org, (225) 335-3076
Alex Horn, Healthy Gulf, alex@healthygulf.org, (504) 532-7065
Lisa Jordan, Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, lwjordan@tulane.edu, (504) 314-2481
Lori Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, lharrison@waterkeeper.org, (703) 216-8585
Avery Theriot, President of LCPA-West, (337) 298-3904
Dr. Angelle Bradford Rosenberg, Sierra Club Delta Chapter, angelle.bradford@sierraclub.org, (225) 454-8319
A Historical Moment for the Atchafalaya Basin
Basin Advocates Stop the East Grand Lake Project
(Louisiana) – On Tuesday, March 31, 2026, Judge Jackson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana issued a favorable judgment to Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, LCPA – West, Healthy Gulf, and Sierra Club Delta Chapterin the groups’ lawsuit challenging the Army Corps permit for the East Grand Lake Project, vacating and enjoining the permit. This decision is a monumental victory for the Basin that marks a successful end to a more than 15 year fight to stop the East Grand Lake Project from destroying and degrading wetlands and flood capacity.
“By doing sediment diversion projects under the guise of water quality, the State is destroying the future of south-central Louisiana. The massive loss of flood capacity of the Basin and Morganza Spillway will spell doom for all of us,” said Dean Wilson, executive director of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper. Dean said he is “very proud of all the parishes that stood up to support this lawsuit in the face of political pressures.”
“Winning this lawsuit is a huge win for the fishermen, and stopping the East Grand Lake Project will save the Basin from filling in,” said President of LCPA-West Avery Theriot. “They need to stop all the projects in the Basin that are similar. The fishermen have been fighting these projects for almost 30 years and our voices are finally heard.”
The EGL Project was coined a “swamp enhancement project,” but sound science shows that the project would lead to increased sedimentation in the area. If not for this lawsuit, the project would have converted productive and vital swamp into bottomland hardwood forest by introducing sediment-laden river water and physically dispersing dredged sediment in the area. This would have reduced the flood capacity of the Basin and pushed us further toward the brink of disaster.
“The Atchafalaya Basin is an international treasure and provides for the communities, fishermen, and critters that live within its river of trees,” said Matt Rota, Senior Policy Director for Healthy Gulf. “This ruling helps us preserve this incredible area. Unlike many coastal areas of Louisiana, the Atchafalaya does not need more sediment, as it fills in vital habitat and fishing areas. It is our hope that we can continue to reduce and reverse this sedimentation and ensure that the Atchafalya continues to serve its many functions, including flood protection, wildlife habitat, and fertile fishing grounds. This natural and cultural resource must be protected, and this decision is another step in that direction.”
After decades of manipulation through flood control activities and oil and gas exploration activities, the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System’s natural water flow has been severely altered. In its decision vacating the EGL Permit, the Court in our case emphasized that “Sedimentation is a serious problem in the Basin. According to the Corps’ 1982 [study on the Basin], the ‘sedimentation is destroying wetlands and open water bodies within the floodway, and this not only reduces aquatic productivity, but lowers esthetic values and compounds the loss of cultural resource sites.’” In its decision and various rulings leading up to the judgment, the Court recognized that the East Grand Lake project design is similar to the Buffalo Cove and Beau Bayou projects that took place in the Basin and resulted in disastrous sedimentation that rendered much of those project areas inaccessible. Acknowledging the similarities, the Court ruled that the Corps could not simply take CPRA’s word that EGL would not produce the same results as these two failed projects that came before.
“This has truly been a long time coming. Over the years, chapter chairs have been a part of this fight and I am grateful to now be the chair that gets to see the battle’s end and to see the next phase of the restoration of the Basin,” Dr. Angelle Bradford Rosenberg of Sierra Club Delta Chapter.
“It’s an enormous relief that the Court recognized the serious violations of federal law that affected the defective dredge-and-fill permit issued by the Army Corps for the EGL project, which threatened the sustainability and health of the Atchafalaya Basin’s wetlands and the communities who live and earn a living there,” said Daniel E. Estrin, General Counsel and Legal Director for Waterkeeper Alliance. “We hope the state will now abandon this dangerous project, but if it proceeds, we are prepared to continue to hold the state and federal governments accountable for any future violations of the law.”
Brennan Spoor, Staff Attorney for Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, shared his thanks for the many groups and individuals who played a part in this victory: “This historic day for the Atchafalaya Basin would not have happened without the immeasurable support Basinkeeper has received from its members and allies. We owe this victory to the Environmental Law Clinic at Tulane Law School, who successfully represented Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West, Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club and its Delta Chapter, and Waterkeeper Alliance in this lawsuit; to St. Martin Parish and Iberville Parish, both of which passed resolutions in support of us and filed amicus briefs in this case to express the Parishes’ concerns about the EGL Project; to Assumption Parish, also passing a resolution in support of our lawsuit; to the media outlets and news stations who were willing to cover this story to shed light on this existential threat to the Basin; to Dr. Ivor Van Heerden, who provided invaluable research and reports for this lawsuit that gave the Corps ample evidence showing this project would result in an ecological disaster; to the crawfishers who helped establish standing for this case to proceed; and to all the members who help support Basinkeeper and our partner organizations as we fight to stop the destruction of our Basin.”
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Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, founded in 2004, is a member organization of Waterkeeper Alliance, representing over 2000 members. The mission of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper is to protect and restore the swamps, lakes, rivers, streams, and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin for future generations. For more information, visit basinkeeper.org.
Healthy Gulf is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico. Since 1994, Healthy Gulf’s mission has been to collaborate with and serve communities who love the Gulf of Mexico by providing the research, communications, and coalition-building tools needed to reverse the long pattern of over-exploitation of the Gulf’s natural resources. Visit healthygulf.org or follow @HealthyGulf on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West (LCPA-West) was formed in the late 80s-early 90s because of trespassing threats against crawfishermen in the Atchafalaya Basin. The mission of LCPA-West is to fight for and protect the free use of navigable waters and water bottoms of the Atchafalaya Basin and state. LCPA-West also fights to restore the Atchafalaya Basin to its natural state as much as possible and does everything possible to bring the polluters and abusers of the Basin to justice. The organization fights for all users of the basin. For more information, visit lcpawest.com.
The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Its Louisiana Chapter is the Delta Chapter. The Sierra Club’s stated mission is “to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.” For more information, visit sierraclub.org/louisiana.
Waterkeeper® Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 300 community-based Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates around the world, focusing citizen action on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. The Waterkeeper movement patrols and protects nearly six million square miles of rivers, lakes, and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. For more information, visit waterkeeper.org.