DRAWING LOUISIANA’S NEW MAP
ADDRESSING LAND LOSS IN COASTAL LOUISIANA
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2512-03-01 and Cooperative Agreement No. 435-300458 between the National Academy of Sciences and the State of Louisiana with support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number 0-309-10054-2
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2006920074
Cover: Images of the cypress swamp and navigation canal were provided by Dr. Donald Davis of Louisiana State University.
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COMMITTEE ON THE RESTORATION AND PROTECTION OF COASTAL LOUISIANA
ROBERT DEAN (Chair),
University of Florida, Gainesville
JEFFREY BENOIT,
SRA International, Inc., Arlington, Virginia
STEPHEN FARBER,
University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
REINHARD E. FLICK,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
MARGOT GARCIA,
Virginia Commonwealth University (retired), Tucson, Arizona
PETER GOODWIN,
University of Idaho, Boise
DANIEL HUPPERT,
University of Washington, Seattle
JOSEPH KELLEY,
University of Maine, Orono
LISA LEVIN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
SCOTT NIXON,
University of Rhode Island, Narragansett
JOHN M. TEAL,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (retired), Rochester, Massachusetts
L. DONELSON WRIGHT,
College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, Virginia
Staff
DAN WALKER, Scholar
JODI BOSTROM, Research Associate
OCEAN STUDIES BOARD
SHIRLEY A. POMPONI (Chair),
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Fort Pierce, Florida
LEE G. ANDERSON,
University of Delaware, Newark
WHITLOW AU,
University of Hawaii at Manoa
ROBERT B. DITTON,
Texas A&M University, College Station
ROBERT DUCE,
Texas A&M University, College Station
MARY (MISSY) H. FEELEY,
ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Houston, Texas
PAUL G. GAFFNEY II,
Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey
HOLLY GREENING,
Tampa Bay Estuary Program, St. Petersburg, Florida
STANLEY R. HART,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts
CYNTHIA M. JONES,
Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
WILLIAM A. KUPERMAN,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
WILLIAM F. MARCUSON III,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (retired), Vicksburg, Mississippi
JACQUELINE MICHEL,
Research Planning, Inc., Columbia, South Carolina
FRANK E. MULLER-KARGER,
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
JOAN OLTMAN-SHAY,
NorthWest Research Associates, Inc., Bellevue, Washington
ROBERT T. PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle
S. GEORGE H. PHILANDER,
Princeton University, New Jersey
RAYMOND W. SCHMITT,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachussets
FRED N. SPIESS,
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California
DANIEL SUMAN,
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Florida
Preface
The first Europeans to arrive in the Louisiana coastal area found an environment of fertile lands rich in natural resources, including fish, shrimp, and fur-bearing animals. Alterations, including construction of levees and constraining the Mississippi River, rendered this system even more agriculturally productive, suitable for habitation, and efficient for navigation. While much of the habitation developed on natural levees, the lowlands yielded bountiful crops of sugar and other valuable agricultural products. Navigation to the nation’s heartland through the vast Mississippi River and its tributaries contributed further to the economic vitality of this region. The discovery of petroleum in 1901 provided additional economic stimulus to the region. Today, the harvest of seafood and the unique mix of cultures fuel a significant tourism industry.
Ironically, many of the alterations and activities carried out to increase the general productivity and attractiveness of this region and to exploit its natural resources have contributed to the rapid wetland losses that are the subject of this study. Levees have reduced the deposition of nutrient-rich sediments on areas now in agricultural production, and jetties direct the sediments into deep water that once nourished marshes and barrier islands. Canals cut through marshes for petroleum exploration and for access to production facilities have led to continued degradation of the wetlands, and extraction of hydrocarbons is believed to have augmented the natural subsidence rates. Introduction of nutria has resulted in increased wetland grazing. Finally, constraining the Mississippi River to not allow its natural switching has resulted in a system that is more desirable for navigation but one counter to the natural cycle required for maintaining the net wetland area.
The State of Louisiana and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been aware of the high rates of wetland loss for many years; both have been active in efforts to arrest this loss. In addition to scientific investigations to understand the problem, concerted political efforts commenced in the 1960s that culminated in the passage of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act and the further development of plans to arrest or reduce high wetland losses. The present study focused on a near-term plan, a 10-year, $1.9 billion, scaled-down version of the more comprehensive plan (30-year, $13 billion). Broadly, the committee’s charge was to assess the economic, engineering, ecological, and social viability of the near-term effort and its value to the nation. This near-term plan is unique in several respects: (1) the vast geographic extent of the coastal Louisiana area (31,080 km2 [12,000 mi2]), (2) the pervasiveness of the processes affecting wetland loss, and (3) the amount of background material that has been developed pertinent to an understanding of the wetland loss problem.
The committee and I are indebted to the staff of the Ocean Studies Board for their valuable services and willingness to fill any need ranging from arrangements for the meetings to report editorial services to obtaining additional needed background material. They truly made the efforts of the committee members more enjoyable and productive. Dr. Dan Walker served as program manager for the latter half of the study after Dr. Joanne Bintz departed for other employment. Douglas George was a great help during his tenure as a National Research Council intern with the Ocean Studies Board. We are especially appreciative of Ms. Jodi Bostrom who provided day-to-day support to the committee and, through her broad talents and can-do attitude, ensured that the committee activities were responded to promptly and that unforeseen needs at committee meetings were met. Without the editorial efforts of the staff, this report would be redundant and lack overall flow from topic to topic.
As a final note, the tragedy wreaked on coastal Louisiana by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita occurred after this committee had completed their meetings and after development of a final draft report. Certainly, if this sequence had been different, this report would have had a somewhat different focus. Subsequent to these hurricanes, the committee revisited the thrust of this report relating to our statement of task and recommendations pertaining to wetlands, and it was determined that these previously developed recommendations still applied. It is the hope of the committee that this report will contribute to an understanding of the overall benefits of coastal wetlands and associated levees and barrier islands (not just storm protection) and the urgency of addressing the rapid land loss in coastal Louisiana.
Robert Dean, Committee Chair
Acknowledgments
This report was greatly enhanced by participants at the four public meetings held as part of this study. The committee would like first to acknowledge the efforts of those who gave presentations at these meetings: Jack C. Caldwell; Thomas Campbell; Ellis J. (Buddy) Clairain, Jr.; James Coleman; Troy Constance; James Cowan, Jr.; Mark Davis; John Day, Jr.; Gerry Duszynski; Sherwood Gagliano; Karen Gautreaux; Bill Good; James (Randy) Hanchey; Jimmy Johnston; Richard Kesel; Irv Mendelssohn; King Milling; Robert Morton; Shea Penland; Jon Porthouse; Denise Reed; John Saia; Greg Steyer; Greg Stone; Joseph Suhayda; and Robert Twilley. These talks helped set the stage for fruitful discussions in the closed sessions that followed.
The committee is also grateful to a number of people who provided important discussion and/or material for this report: Len Bahr, Windell Curole, Oliver Harmar, Harry Roberts, Robin Rorick, Mark Schleifstein, Kerry St. Pé, Bill Streever, Colin Thorne, and Jeff Williams.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
LINDA K. BLUM, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
DONALD F. BOESCH, University of Maryland, Cambridge
LEON E. BORGMAN, University of Wyoming, Laramie
VIRGINIA R. BURKETT, U.S. Geological Survey, Many, Louisiana
CHERYL K. CONTANT, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
ROBERT FROSCH, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
ELVIN R. HEIBERG III, Heiberg Associates, Inc., Arlington, Virginia
PORTER HOAGLAND III, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
WILLIAM F. MARCUSON III, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (retired), Vicksburg, Mississippi
NORMAN H. SLEEP, Stanford University, Stanford, California
PETER R. WILCOCK, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Frank Stillinger, Princeton University, and Gregory Baecher, University of Maryland. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.