New Orleans, La. — The state of Louisiana, moving forward with plans to alter the plumbing on the Mississippi River, will begin the first work on what would be the largest fresh water diversion project.
Garret Graves, chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, told hundreds of coastal experts in New Orleans that in coming weeks the state will begin engineering and design work on the Mid-Barataria Diversion planned for the west bank of Plaquemines Parish at Myrtle Grove.
In the welcoming address at a three-day "State of the Coast" conference, Graves said the project was aimed at "finally beginning to reconnect" the river to the surrounding marsh.
The state's coastal Master Plan proposed the diversion at 50,000 cubic feet per second.
However, the project could eventually be expanded to 250,000 cfs, or close to the output of the Bonnet Carre Spillway upriver from New Orleans.
Supporters argue large-scale diversions will mimic the Mississippi River's power as a land builder, dumping billions and billions of tons of sand and dirt into marsh now starved for fresh water by levees.
Opponents, including the state's oyster industry, fear dramatically altering salinity levels will have dire consequences.
"You gotta understand that this river that built this delta, you can't reconnect to the marsh," oysterman Kenneth Fox recently told FOX 8. "The silt is not there."
The master plan envisions spending $4 billion in coming decades on diversions.
"We can't just build barrier islands, we can't just do marsh creations," Graves said. "We must also incorporate diversions into that strategy."
Graves called diversion projects "the key to our success," arguing they are a more cost effective means of building and sustaining marsh in the long term.
New land is built near the existing Caernarvon Diversion in Plaquemines Parish
