NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Supporters of Louisiana’s costliest and most controversial coastal restoration project argue the state would face significant hurdles should it decide to cancel the project.

“Where we live, the water is coming up and the land is sinking and we are so fortunate to have this giant river that we can use,” said Kimberly Reyher, Executive Director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

For decades, Reyher and other coastal restoration advocates have dreamed of putting the Mississippi River to work, mimicking the power of the river to build land.

The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project would channel up to 70,000 cubic feet of river water and sediment per second — over 523,000 gallons– into Barataria Bay.

The project aims to build 28 square miles of land over 30 years, though computer models project that total would fall to 21 square miles after 50 years due to factors such as subsidence and sea-level rise.

In December 2022, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority the necessary permits to build Mid-Barataria.

However, Plaquemines Parish recently ordered work on the project stopped while a parish lawsuit works its way through the courts.

A separate lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans by the International Marine Mammal Project, contends that the Army Corps’ approval of the project violates the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act.

COAST IN CRISIS

The administration of Governor Jeff Landry has sent mixed signals about its commitment to Mid-Barataria in recent weeks, citing the lawsuits and the project’s estimated $2.9 billion cost.

“There is a better way to do things without sacrificing our fishing industries and our culture and our heritage,” said charter boat captain George Ricks, who has spearheaded opposition to the project from many fishermen who fear the effects of freshwater entering the bay.

“We killed more dolphins during the Bonnet Carre Spillway opening than the BP oil spill,” Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser said at last month’s CPRA board meeting. “Nobody’s ever going to tell you that.”

Nungesser argues the state could spread the money more evenly around the coast without the project’s more damaging effects.

“Everybody who represents a parish at this meeting should be outraged,” Nungesser said.

However, many of the project’s supporters argue the state may find it challenging to re-direct the money.

Funding for the diversion flows, in three large pots of money, from fines and court settlements associated with the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The largest chunk of that money, $2.26 billion, was provided by the federal and state trustees overseeing the oil spill settlement.

The money is aimed at restoring resources damaged during the spill.

For that reason, diversion supporters argue the state would find it difficult to simply wave a magic wand and redirect the funding.

Rehyer said channeling the money into other areas would be, “very complicated, possibly not possible.” Ricks argues that the CPRA could find a way to re-purpose the money.

“You could take that corridor that they built now for the Mid-Barataria Diversion and put a sediment pipeline and pump sediment in,” Ricks said. “We all want the sediment.”

Some critics have suggested building a smaller diversion as a compromise, but even that gets complicated since the Army Corps would have to sign off on any changes.

Through the permitting process, the Corps analyzed alternatives to the diversion, including ones that would send less water into the bay. At 70,000 cubic feet per second, the diversion would carry sediment into the surrounding waters.

However, computer modeling suggests a smaller flow of water might lack the velocity to deliver sediment while producing some of the same negative effects on fisheries and marine life. In other words, a smaller project might produce the same harmful effects without the benefits.

By Nungesser’s estimate, Louisiana has already spent over $300 million on project design, engineering, and early construction.

If it pulls the plug on the project, there has even been speculation the state might have to pay back the boards that control the money.

Louisiana has used hundreds of millions of oil spill dollars to restore barrier islands, and over the last year, the two largest marsh creation projects in history.

“Dredging builds land now. Land you can walk on that protects our communities,” Ricks said.

Reyher argues a diversion would have more lasting power, steadily delivering sediment for decades to come.

“As soon as you turn the dredge off, the land starts to sink,” Reyher said. “So, we can’t dredge our way out of this.”

CPRA Chairman Gordon Dove has said a comprehensive report on the various aspects of the diversion was being prepared for Gov. Landry.

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