DisastersNew Orleans debates hurricane protection plans
The Army Corps of Engineers is currently deciding how best to implement its $2.9 billion Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) restoration plan in New Orleans; the plan is part of several projects designed to protect the Louisiana coast line from hurricane storm surges; residents are clashing over the plan and the public hearing period for the plan has been extended; state legislators are currently debating with the corps, as the $2.9 billion project funds do not include the costs for land acquisition, design, and operation and maintenance; the project is expected to take ten years to complete and construction could begin as early as 2012
Wetlands near New Orleans slowly disappearing // Source: scientificcomputing.com
The Army Corps of Engineers is currently deciding how best to implement its $2.9 billion Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MR-GO) restoration plan in New Orleans.
The MR-GO plan is part of several projects designed to help protect the Louisiana coast line from hurricane storm surges and local residents and environmental groups have been encouraged to offer their opinions.
The corps has held several public hearings on its proposal which includes building a new freshwater diversionary canal near Violet, the restoration of wetlands, and projects to protect New Orleans’ eastern shorelines.
At a recent public hearing, residents offered conflicting opinions on how best to proceed. Some argued that dredging another canal near Violet would result in damage similar to the now closed MR-Go, while environmentalists supported the canal as the use of freshwater would help the restoration of cypress forests and wetlands in the area.
Opponents say that the freshwater diversion is ineffective as it will not carry away enough land-building sediment.
Local resident John Driscoll said, “We need to restore the natural process of the river. Water alone is not going to get us there.”
Environmentalists also object to the corps’ plan to dredge large portions of Lake Borgne to rebuild wetlands.
MRGO Must Go Coalition spokeswoman Amanda Moore said, “We can get sediment out of the upper Mississippi River, rather than dig so many borrow pits in Lake Borgne.”
To rebuild the wetlands the corps needs to dredge 157.2 million cubic yards of sediment from nearby areas. The sediment would then be sprayed in a thin layer over existing wetlands that are weak. The soils would absorb the sediment, helping wetlands grasses grow and extending the area’s life.
John Lopez, a spokesman for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, said, “This restoration project, if realized to any degree, will be the largest one ever contemplated in this part of the coast and has tremendous promise to do some good.”
The plan also proposes armoring large stretches of New Orleans’ coast line with rock to better defend it against rising waters during a hurricane.
At the urging of local residents, the corps extended the public comment period on the plan until 5 March from its originally scheduled deadline of 14 February.
The $2.9 billion plan does not include money to cover the purchase of land, design costs, or operation and maintenance fees once the project is completed.
State legislators are currently debating with the corps, as it believes all costs should be covered by the federal government when Congress authorized the restoration project.
The project is expected to take ten years to complete and construction could begin as early as 2012.
