Engineers Build Land with Dredged Sediment
Marsh Creation as a Coastal Restoration Strategy

Erosion and subsidence exact a heavy toll on Louisiana’s coastal zone, claiming nearly 2,000 square miles of land in the past 75 years. But scientists and engineers seeking to rebuild barrier islands and restore marshes have a powerful technique at their disposal: marsh creation.

“By replacing sediment compacted by subsidence or eroded away by coastal forces such as tides and waves, marsh creation rebuilds land, restoring marshes and barrier islands to an elevation that can support wetland habitat,” explains Russ Joffrion, a civil engineer with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR). “It’s the only restoration technique that immediately reverses land loss.”

CWPPRA

Louisiana is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Approximately 40 percent of the coastal wetlands of the lower 48 states is located in Louisiana.

This fragile environment is disappearing at an alarming rate. Louisiana has lost up to 40 square miles of marsh a year for several decades - that's 80 percent of the nation's annual coastal wetland loss. If the current rate of loss is not slowed, by the year 2040 an additional 800,000 acres of wetlands will disappear, and the Louisiana shoreline will advance inland as much as 33 miles in some areas.

This prompted Congress to pass the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) in 1990. It funds wetland enhancement projects nationwide, designating approximately $60 million annually for work in Louisiana.

Project List

The CWPPRA Task Force annually develops a list of high-priority projects to be constructed. To date, sixteen such priority lists have been formulated. The projects funded by CWPPRA all focus on marsh creation, restoration, protection or enhancement.

PPL Reports

Site

The Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force Web site contains information and links relating to coastal restoration projects in coastal Louisiana.