Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion receives final permits

Yesterday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) signed the Record of Decision, approving final permits for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion — a major ecosystem restoration project to strengthen wetlands and combat land loss through coastal erosion, according to a press release by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

The decision is a pivotal moment for the state, marking a major victory in the fight to address the state’s land loss and erosion crisis.

The project will be a $2.3 billion investment that builds on the state’s existing restoration efforts to preserve its local ecosystems and leverage the use of natural solutions to build on and strengthen acres of wetlands in the Barataria Basin.

The diversion will play a critical role in protecting vulnerable communities from hurricanes and damaging storm surge by reconnecting the Mississippi River to coastal wetlands, sustaining ecosystem health and building a more resilient coast..

These projects will create and support thousands of jobs and provide real economic opportunities for businesses and jobs for Louisiana residents. The diversion will be adaptively managed to ensure effective operations of the sediment diversion to achieve a bountiful and productive delta.

"The Mississippi River has built its delta in coastal Louisiana over the last 7,000 years by distributing its sand, silt, and clay sediments during high flow periods," says Jim Tripp, a retired EDF lawyer, who has been working on Louisiana’s coastal crisis since the 1970s. "The massive flood control and navigation levees of the river have largely disrupted these natural processes. Combatting land loss and restoring the delta building processes requires re-establishing the historic sediment distribution functions of the river. That is what the Mid-Barataria Basin Sediment Diversion, the first major sediment diversion, is designed to do. After decades of planning, we are on the cusp of creating a better future for coastal Louisiana."