Drawing Louisiana's New Map: Addressing Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana

205 Pages·2006·3.31 MB·English

by  Committee on the Restoration and Protection of Coastal Louisiana

DRAWING
LOUISIANA'S NEW MAP
ADDRESSING LAND LOSS IN
COASTAL LOUISIANA
Committee on the Restoration and Protection of Coastal Louisiana
Ocean Studies Board
Division on Earth and Life Studies
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Gov-
erning Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from
the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engi-
neering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible
for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for ap-
propriate balance.
This study was supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2512-03-01 and Coop-
erative 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 publi-
cation 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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Copyright 2006 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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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
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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
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Staff
SUSAN ROBERTS, Director
DAN WALKER, Scholar
CHRISTINE BLACKBURN, Program Officer
ANDREAS SOHRE, Financial Associate
SHIREL SMITH, Administrative Coordinator
JODI BOSTROM, Research Associate
NANCY CAPUTO, Research Associate
SARAH CAPOTE, Senior Program Assistant
PHILLIP LONG, Program Assistant
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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 agricul-
tural products. Navigation to the nation’s heartland through the vast Mis-
sissippi River and its tributaries contributed further to the economic vital-
ity 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 in-
creased wetland grazing. Finally, constraining the Mississippi River to
not allow its natural switching has resulted in a system that is more desir-
able for navigation but one counter to the natural cycle required for main-
taining the net wetland area.
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viii PREFACE
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 investiga-
tions to understand the problem, concerted political efforts commenced
in the 1960s that culminated in the passage of the Coastal Wetlands Plan-
ning, 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 vi-
ability 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 obtain-
ing 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 activi-
ties 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 Hurri-
canes 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 dif-
ferent focus. Subsequent to these hurricanes, the committee revisited the
thrust of this report relating to our statement of task and recommenda-
tions 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 meet-
ings: 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 pro-
cedures 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 pub-
lished 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 confi-
dential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to
thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
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