Deal allows work to resume on Louisiana's biggest ever coastal restoration project

Work is set to resume on Louisiana's biggest-ever coastal restoration project, the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, after state officials agreed to a deal with Plaquemines Parish, which had ordered construction stopped over concerns related to commercial fishing and other issues.

But the agreement only allows certain early work on the nearly $3 billion project to move ahead, including site preparation and construction on various temporary structures, the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and Plaquemines Parish announced in a joint statement Thursday. Negotiations will continue between the state and the parish on remaining concerns over the project.

The agreement also raises a host of questions over the future of the unprecedented project, which underwent years of planning and scientific evaluation before finally breaking ground in August 2023. Should changes be agreed to in the negotiations, it is unclear whether that would trigger an entirely new federal environmental assessment, which could set it back additional years.

Further – and perhaps more importantly, from the state’s perspective – it is unclear whether the project’s funders will allow changes, since the money was approved based on the permitted specifications. The project is being paid for with fines and settlements related to the 2010 BP oil spill, and various trustees and boards are charged with evaluating and distributing that money.

State officials have already signaled that Louisiana could be on the hook for nearly $1 billion if the project were allowed to die.

Nevertheless, Thursday’s announcement was the first public sign of movement in months, with work halted since late February. Plaquemines Parish had issued both a stop-work order on the project and filed suit in state court.

The two sides "are working toward a mutually acceptable path forward for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion," Thursday's statement said. "The parties have filed a joint motion to stay the pending litigation, requesting legal proceedings related to the project be suspended."

The parish has modified its order to allow the early work to continue, and the statement says initial construction “as well as the procurement of long-lead time items will provide significant cost savings to the state as it relates to project construction.”

'Without further delay'

The project is seen by coastal officials as an integral part of Louisiana's strategy to address the state's land-loss crisis.

As initially planned, the project would funnel up to 75,000 cubic feet per second of water and sediment from the Mississippi River into the Barataria Basin to restore lost wetlands there. The channel to transport the sediment would be built around the town of Ironton.

The Barataria Basin has seen some of the state’s most dramatic land loss, and the idea behind the diversion is to mimic the forces that created south Louisiana in the first place, when the river meandered, depositing sediment and building wetlands. The levees now hem the river in, both to control flooding and for navigational purposes, while canals dug through wetlands for oil and gas development have also greatly contributed to the problem.

Sea-level rise exacerbated by human-caused climate change is worsening the dilemma. The state has already lost around 2,000 square miles over the past century – roughly the size of Delaware – and Plaquemines Parish is particularly vulnerable.

The Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition, a prominent organization of coastal advocates that have long pushed for the project, issued a statement in response to Thursday’s announcement calling for Mid-Barataria to move ahead as permitted.

“Lifting the stop-work order on the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion is a necessary and critical next step forward for Louisiana’s quickly disappearing coastal wetlands, which protect our coastal communities, businesses and ecosystem,” the statement said, further noting that the project was “designed by coastal experts for decades.”

“We expect and call for the project to move forward as planned, without further delay.”

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, a pioneer in the state’s coastal restoration efforts, said it was “happy to learn that work is resuming.”

“CRCL has been advocating for projects like this since the year Craig Heyward was drafted by the Saints (1988),” the group said. “South Louisiana’s communities are worth saving, and restoring the natural processes that built our coast is the most effective way to do it.”

State Rep. Jerome "Zee" Zeringue, a former head of the CPRA, said "anything that moves the project forward and allows it to continue is a good thing."

Politics involved

The project is expected to build 21 square miles of land over 50 years, the timespan used to evaluate it. It could potentially continue to be effective farther into the future. Marsh rebuilding projects carried out by the state with dredged material typically have a 20-year lifespan.

But support for the project is far from unanimous.

Commercial fishers in the diversion area are deeply concerned over the effects of the freshwater on the shrimp and oyster populations there. It is also expected to lead to increased flood risk for some areas of Plaquemines.

Some $378 million has been set aside to help commercial fishers and others deal with the project’s effects, but they argue it is not nearly enough.

Political issues have also become involved in the project. Former Gov. John Bel Edwards fully supported it and oversaw last year’s groundbreaking, but his successor, Jeff Landry, has sent mixed signals.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, the former Plaquemines Parish president, strongly opposes the project. He considered a run for governor and initially opposed Landry’s candidacy in last year’s election, but changed tack after the two met in February 2023.

That meeting included discussion of the diversion. Nungesser says Landry told him he would look at the project with an open mind.