May 31, 2006
Scientists, engineers push to get Gulf Coast restoration plan off the treadmill
by Richard Hellmann | BC WATER NEWS
CLICK PHOTO
for a PowerPoint presentation on
"The Magnitude and Nature of the Problem"
by Professor Denise Reed of the University
of New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — The media may be swarming over Mayor Ray Nagin’s razor-thin re-election victory, but a select group of scientists and engineers returns to the Crescent City tomorrow to try to grab a slice of the limelight for a more pressing issue: the survival of the Gulf Coast.
On this first day of the 2006 hurricane season, leaders in the fields of energy, economics, engineering and science will continue their efforts to refocus the country’s attention on a $14 billion, 30-year plan to restore Louisiana’s coastal wetlands and barrier islands.
Their report is scheduled to be presented to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, elected officials and industry leaders from Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and Texas.
“The restoration and management of these coastal resources is one of the great challenges facing the science and engineering communities, and we must ensure they work together to create a comprehensive effort to restore and sustain this ‘working coast,’ ” said Sidney Coffee, the governor’s executive assistant for Coastal Activities.
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Earlier, technical and policy groups convened April 25-27 in New Orleans as part of the “Envisioning the Future of the Gulf Coast Symposium,” sponsored by America’s Wetland and BP America. Denise Reed, a professor at the University of New Orleans, unveiled “The Magnitude and Nature of the Problem,” a PowerPoint presentation that detailed some stark observations:
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By the mid-1980s, Mississippi had lost about 59 percent of its wetlands. About 80,000 acres of coastal wetlands remain.
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Texas has lost one-half of its coastal wetlands in the past 200 years. Less than 600,000 acres remain.
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By the mid-1980s, Alabama had lost approximately 50 percent of its wetlands. About 10,000 acres remain.
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Florida has lost at least 84,000 acres of wetlands during the past 15 years.
"The important thing here is putting someone in charge to get things done." Bill Dawson, P.E. |
Louisiana has nearly 6,000 square miles of coastal wetlands, but they are being lost at an alarming rate. “There aren’t many win/win solutions for the type of problems we have on the northern Gulf Coast,” Reed told the Baton Rouge Advocate.
But something has to be done — and fast.
“We need to expand the Mississippi River Commission to include local leaders, not necessarily engineers, who will be in charge of securing funds, prioritizing projects, etc.,” says Bill Dawson, P.E., who is part of the Gulf Coast working group.
“The important thing here is putting someone in charge to get things done,” Dawson says. “There’s lots of piecemeal plans floating around. New Orleans, for instance, is still using flood maps from 1929.
“But adding a handful of key people to the commission would make a difference. And President Bush and the Gulf Coast governors need to be involved in this decision.”
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The New Framework report was prepared as a rapid response to develop and execute a strategy for reducing hurricane risks in New Orleans and along the Louisiana coast, while sustaining the wetland-dominated landscapes that surround those population centers. These coastal landscapes are important not only as a buffer from hurricanes, but also are of great value for the natural resources and ecosystem services they provide. The report delivers several principal messages and key points:
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Hurricane protection for larger population centers can be secured only with a combination of levees and a sustainable coastal landscape.
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Under the current subsidence rates and anticipated acceleration of sea-level rise, most — although not all — of the coastal landscape could be maintained though the 21st century. With efficient management of the Mississippi River's resources, this landscape could be expanded in some places.
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Planning, investment and management decisions must be integrated under a new framework in order to secure these multiple purposes, while recognizing: the forces of nature; the imperative to protect life, property and communities; the value of natural resources and ecosystem services; the environmental and economic sustainability of the solutions; and financial constraint.
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Near-term critical restoration features selected by the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study should be re-examined and prioritized to ensure that they provide environmentally and economically sustainable approaches to advance ecosystem restoration goals and to support reduction of storm damage.
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Reducing storm damage should be achieved through a combination of stronger inner defenses around larger population centers; broader, self-sustaining wetland landscapes that reduce storm surge and wave fetch; restrictions along artificial channels to limit storm surge propagation; and maintaining barrier islands along selected areas of the coast.
by 50 percent from circa 1700 to 1980-1990
Another way to refocus attention on the Gulf Coast is to show how states in the heartland upriver have begun to understand the link between New Orleans and their economies. Hurricane Katrina reminded many states of the significance of the Port of New Orleans to their economic well-being. Although Houston’s wetlands and barrier islands are not as plentiful south of its port as those in New Orleans, they provide the same buffering against storm surge that could destroy the area's major oil and gas production facilities.
“How do we place a value on wetlands?” Thomas Kornegay, executive director of the Port of Houston, told the Times-Picayune. “They're worth far more than the calculation of dollars and cents required to replace wetlands. The real problem is monitoring the value of wetlands in erosion control, flood control, as nursery grounds for fisheries and in cleaning water supplies.”
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Robert Twilley, a biologist at Louisiana State University and a member of the working group, warned that continued delays caused by repeated changes on the restoration plan, including those in the aftermath of Katrina and Rita, will reduce the area of wetlands that are salvageable.
For example, a new delta lobe was built at the mouth of the Atchafalaya River between 1972 and 1980— the only area along the coast where land is growing. Although that effort appeared dramatic, it took eight years but represented only half of the land lost in a single year along the state's coastline, Twilley told the Times-Picayune.
It could take 50 years before any restoration bears a substantial change along the coast, he said, but "if we don't start now, we will run out of time.”
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