coastal restoration

Louisiana’s top coastal restoration official declared his plans to resign during a speech at one of the state’s largest coastal conferences on Wednesday. Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority chairman Chip Kline marks the latest of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ appointees to step down from their position as the Democratic governor’s term nears its close in January 2024.

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

New trees are few and far between, and the ones there are struggling to stay alive. If the trend continues, Louisiana could lose one of its largest freshwater swamps and a major buffer between Baton Rouge and hurricanes.

Louisiana will receive more than $2 billion to pay for an ambitious, first-of-its-kind plan to reconnect the Mississippi River to the degraded marshes on Plaquemines Parish’s west bank.

Over the last 50 years, saltwater intrusion and coastal erosion have turned Lake Borgne and its surrounding areas into swaths of unprotected, open water. But an ongoing $114.6 million Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority project has aimed to recreate that lost land.

After nearly 40 years, a final decision on the state’s $2.2 billion bid to reconnect the Mississippi River to the sediment-starved marshes on Plaquemines Parish’s east bank is closer than ever.

Louisiana’s coastal authority and advocates continue to fight the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the future of a new cut along the Mississippi River on Plaquemines Parish’s east bank. The final decision on whether the channel will remain open looms, with the potential to come down in the next few months, and, as it stands, the odds aren’t in their favor.

Market volatility has raised prices in the grocery store, at gas pumps — and on Louisiana’s ongoing effort to rebuild its lower third.

For some, the channel — referred to as Neptune Pass by federal and state officials — presents an opportunity for research and coastal restoration as Louisiana’s protective wetlands continue to slip away. But as more water branches off from the river’s main stem, a slower Mississippi River could pose navigational challenges for the oceangoing vessels that traverse the ship channel.