Coastal Research

Louisiana’s ambitious plan to save and restore its coastline is stalled amid lawsuits seeking to halt the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project. And now Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has voiced his own concerns about the project which environmental advocates fear could stall the project indefinitely.

Coastal Desk

Uncertainty looms over plan to save coastal Louisiana

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

Federal leaders and Gov. Jeff Landry clash over the state’s projected spending for the $3 billion project.

An aerial view of broken wetlands in Plaquemines Parish. Projections by Climate Central indicate that the parish could lose another 100,000 acres of wetlands by the end of the century.

Coastal Desk

Louisiana voters want federal money from offshore wind to go toward coastal restoration

Eva Tesfaye

Louisiana’s coastal restoration fund could get a boost from offshore wind revenues.

The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a man-made navigational channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans, is deemed a critical protection asset for the greater New Orleans area, and in 2017 was added to the list of restoration projects identified by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Coastal Desk

As funding dries up for Louisiana’s coastal restoration program, advocates are strategizing to sustain it

Terry L. Jones (Floodlight)

A coalition of environmental groups is pushing 18 projects to protect Gulf Coast communities from land loss and storm damage.

A group of people are standing in a construction yard wearing white hard hats. All of them are looking up at a large metal ship. One man is looking back that the group talking.

Coastal Desk

Scientists want to do more research on the Gulf of Mexico. This new ship should help

Eva Tesfaye

Three new research vessels are being constructed in Houma, Louisiana. One will sail across the Gulf of Mexico and fill gaps in our understanding of the Gulf Coast.

Excavators roll over newly built land on Louisiana's Spanish Pass restoration site in 2022, attempting to reverse some of the land loss in Barataria Bay.

Coastal Desk

Levees, oil wells biggest causes of Barataria Basin land loss: study

Mark Schleifstein, Times-Picayune/The Advocate

A new study of the dramatic loss of wetlands in the Barataria Basin south of New Orleans during the last 130 years concludes that the two main causes have been construction of levees along the Mississippi River and subsidence due to oil and gas activity.But the study also contains potential good news: There may be enough sediment in the river to rebuild coastal land, disputing earlier estimates.

A newly-formed cut in the east bank of Plaquemines Parish known as Neptune Pass has begun diverted huge amounts of Mississippi River water. Recent research suggests it's also a rare site of new land-building on Louisiana's coast.

Coastal Desk

New Mississippi River channel is actually building land on disappearing coast, research says

Halle Parker

A contentious channel formed off the Mississippi River has begun to build new land off Plaquemines Parish’s east bank, according to research published Tuesday.

On the east bank of Plaquemines Parish, across the river from the small town of Buras, a new cut in the river bank has opened and is growing rapidly, stirring concerns from all levels of government.

Coastal Desk

New Mississippi River cut should be closed, Corps analysis says, despite state opposition

Halle Parker

Despite vocal opposition from the state and coastal advocates, an environmental analysis compiled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers seemed to support the closure of a newly-formed channel diverting part of the Mississippi River through Plaquemines Parish’s east bank.

Nicholls State University GarLab and USFWS teams tag and collect data from a large Alligator Gar at the Saint Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi. Fish safely released after data collection.

Coastal Desk

New research aims to help this Louisiana fish and the environment they live in

Kezia Setyawan

In estuaries across Louisiana, scientists are working to collect information about spotted and alligator gar in a non-lethal way — a game-changer for the scientific community — to see how native floodplains and habitats are doing.

Coastal Desk

Coastal Research To Be Funded With BP Settlement Money

Travis Lux

Much of the money the state plans to get through the BP oil spill settlement will go toward big construction projects -- building barrier islands and…