Plaquemines Parish Uses Sediment for Marsh Creation Projects

As part of an agreement signed by Plaquemines Parish and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, some material dredged from the lower Mississippi for navigational reasons might be used in marsh creation projects.

Several groups have long requested that more of the dredged material be used to create coastal wetlands, rather than released back into the Mississippi or into the Gulf of Mexico.According to Plaquemines Parish President, Billy Nungesser, this recent agreement is yet another step toward bringing the Louisiana Coastal Area Beneficial Use of Dredged Material program into fruition.

According to Col. Richard Hansen (Army Corps New Orleans district commander), under the new program, the Army Corps of Engineers carries out its normal dredging operations on the Mississippi through traditional funding methods; however, the LCA program then pays to transport the material to a marsh-creation area. In fact, in addition to being a local sponsor, Plaquemines Parish has also put up $1.2 million toward the design and engineering of the project.

The timing of construction relies primarily on the receipt of federal funding. President Obama’s proposed FY2015 budget does include $10 million for the work, says Hansen.

Nugesser asserts that the program could even expand into projects for additional storm-surge protection.

Planning will be carried out for building ridges of land in some areas of the Mississippi River delta near the marsh creation areas.The ridges would provide a “speed bump” to the water flowing through some of the bays, which would assist in settling sediment that the water carries.

In other parts of Louisiana, similar arrangements have also been made – like work done on the Calcasieu Ship Channel. The difference being that at the Channel, additional money to place the sediment in the marsh comes from a combination of the Port of Lake Charles, Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, and the Terminal District.

One challenge along the Mississippi is finding a non-federal sponsor that will partner with the Corps – but in this case, that role was taken on by Plaquemines Parish.

Says Hansen, "We look forward to more partnerships with Plaquemines Parish and with the state,"