You probably heard the news last week- the Obama Administration unveiled its proposed 2016 federal budget. In the budget funds promised from The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA, were redirected from four Gulf States, including Louisiana, to be spent elsewhere in the nation. Basically, offshore oil and gas revenue sharing was eliminated.

Frankly, this is an outrageous reversal of the agreements worked out in 2006, led by Senator Mary Landrieu, after years of making the case that Louisiana and other Gulf coast states that have offshore oil and gas activity bear the impact for oil and gas development for America. We must keep saying it, nearly 10 years later.

Where oil and gas drilling occurs on federal lands, states receive 50% of revenues, but where oil and gas drilling occurs in federal waters, coastal states get nothing.  GOMESA addressed that inequality.  Louisiana is already at a disadvantage for receiving oil and gas revenue because state waters end at three nautical miles, whereas Texas and west Florida have an established nine nautical mile limit for their state waters. GOMESA addresses disparities by creating an avenue for offshore revenues to be returned to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

Perhaps President Obama and the rest of the country have not heard enough about the looming crisis of coastal erosion in Louisiana. We need to remind them that Louisiana has lost 1,900 square miles and is projected to lose another 1,750 square miles if no action is taken. We need to keep telling people that Louisiana has a comprehensive Coastal Master Plan to address ongoing coastal erosion. In fact, future Coastal Master Plan program funding is largely dependent on dedicated funds from sources like GOMESA and the RESTORE Act.

We need to speak up for Louisiana about our contribution to the energy resources this nation depends on and make it clear that we need every dollar available to put toward coastal restoration of important wildlife habitat and economic value.

You can send a message directly to President Obama and your representatives in Congress to let them know you’re watching and you expect the GOMESA funding directed to the Gulf States will be restored in the federal budget for 2016. Sportsmen and women who care about protecting our coastal wetlands must speak up now for Sportsman’s Paradise and protect it for our state and the nation.

Background: The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GOMESA, will allow Louisiana and three other Gulf states to get 37.5 percent of the revenue generated from Outer Continental Shelf leases off their shores. The law was passed in 2006. The revenue sharing is capped for the four states at $500 million a year, when the dollars start flowing in 2017.

These revenues have been earmarked by the state of Louisiana for funding of coastal restoration in Louisiana. Eliminating this funding is a devastating blow to moving forward with projects in Louisiana’s comprehensive Coastal Master Plan. GOMESA funds in 2018 represent the largest funding source at $140 million for the state Master Plan budget planning.

As Phase 3 of the BP Civil Trial begins, I’m thinking back to a recent boat trip in the Barataria Basin to see habitat damage in the aftermath of the oil spill.

A few months ago, LWF was approached by reporters who came to Louisiana to cover a story on impacts from the BP oil spill nearly 5 years later. To help illustrate the changes, we (LWF Executive Director Rebecca Triche, and LWF Coastal Outreach Coordinator Michelle Maloney) hopped on a boat out of Myrtle Grove with David Muth of the National Wildlife Federation and headed out to Cat Island.

As we passed acres and acres of beautiful marsh, I tried to imagine what it would have looked like if we had taken this boat ride 10, 20 and 30 years ago. The further from the river we travelled, the more open the water became, and we finally approached a tiny spit of sand and shell, with just a few mangrove twigs left. We got off the boat onto “Cat Island” and talked about how Cat Island has changed as a result of the oil spill. It was much larger and connected to another tiny spit of sand and shell several yards away. It had an abundance of plants and bird habitat, but on that day we saw one dying mangrove left and no evidence of bird nesting.

After talking a little bit about the changes Cat Island has seen, we got back into the boat and puttered around the nearby spits of land. In addition to the bit that Cat Island was once connected to, there was also a small island close by that way covered in white pelicans. These pelicans used to have their choice of islands to nest on, but their habitat is quickly disappearing. This “Bird Island” had hundreds if not thousands of pelicans hanging around.

From there we headed over to Bay Jimmy to talk about how the oil spill has accelerated erosion of marsh in that area. Oil that drifted into this area killed the roots of the plants, and broke up the marsh. David Muth recalled that immediately after the spill a band of black lined the perimeter of the vegetative islands. That was oil that was washed up onto the exposed marsh. The plants died and floated away, creating smaller and smaller islands and marshes.

Going out to areas impacted by the oil spill reminded me that we must be vigilant that fines and penalties from the oil spill are spent on restoration projects. The legal aftermath of the 2010 BP disaster has been a long and complicated process. The civil lawsuit to hold BP accountable for the destruction in the Gulf of Mexico resulting from the largest oil spill in US history began last year. This particular lawsuit deals with BP’s role in violating the Clean Water Act, and is divided into three phases. Last year phase 1 (determining the liability of BP and other parties in the spill), and phase 2 (determining how much oil was spilled) were completed. The third phase will determine the fine BP will pay: how much per barrel of oil spilled.

Even before the spill, Louisiana had no shortage of coastal restoration challenges and this event added to the problem. We need to remember that this is not free money coming to the state. This money comes at the cost of the largest man-made environmental disaster in the country’s history, and it should be spent on making things better for habitat, wildlife and people.

This past Wednesday, November 12, 2014, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority voted to send “River Reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp” as one of five projects to the RESTORE Council for “bucket 2” funding. Each RESTORE Council member can submit up to five projects until November 17, 2014.

This project, also known as the Maurepas diversion or the West Maurepas Diversion (and associated with Hope Canal early in its history), is designed to restore systems and processes that served the swamp before levees restrained the Mississippi River. The project has a long history in coastal restoration planning, starting with the The Louisiana Coastal Restoration Plan in 1993, the Louisiana Coast 2050 report in 1998, the Mississippi River Sediment, Nutrient and Freshwater Diversion Study in 1999, and both Coastal Master Plans in 2007 and 2012.

Studies show that 87% of Maurepas swamp is dying, largely due to nutrient deprivation, saltwater intrusion, and subsidence.  Each of these stressors can be attributed to the swamp’s isolation from the Mississippi River. Since the swamp has been cut off from the Mississippi River for decades, the plants have been deprived of vital nutrients, and their growth and productivity has suffered. Saltwater is intruding from the Gulf of Mexico through Lake Pontchartrain, and therefore salinity is highest closest to Pass Manchac. Trees in the swamp on the edge of Lake Maurepas are dying of salt stress. Trees can withstand short saltwater intrusion events, and an influx of freshwater helps them recover. Areas that are touched by flowing freshwater have the lowest salinities.  Healthy tree and roots systems help maintain soils, and fight subsidence. The highest bulk densities (a measurement of soil weight= dry weight of soil per unit volume of soil) are found in parts of the swamp with consistent freshwater input (low salinity), and lowest bulk densities occur at sites with high salinity.

A freshwater diversion from the Mississippi river can help fight each of these stressors, and maintain or even increase the health of the swamp. The diversion is designed to maximize “sheet flow” (the spread of water over a wide swath of the receiving area, or a “nonpoint” water source) which is important for improving water quality, increasing primary production, and decreasing salinities deep into the swamp. The total area expected to benefit from the reconnection to the Mississippi River will be 45,000 acres of wetland. Freshwater will help deliver nutrients to nutrient-starved trees at the interior of the swamp, and lower saltiness killing trees at the margin of Lake Maurepas.

The Louisiana Wildlife Federation and leaders in Ascension, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes expressed support for this project in the form of a sign on letter. You can read the letter here.

UPDATE: Thanks to all those who sent messages directly to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to forward to the RESTORE Council with the project packet!  View the projects submitted by CPRA for RESTORE Act Pot 2 possible selection.  Check out all the projects submitted to RESTORE Council for consideration for pot 2 spending here.

It is now October and elections are fast approaching. Several constitutional amendments will be voted on by the public, in addition to all the candidates. The Artificial Reef Development Fund is amendment number 8 of 14 slated for vote.

This constitutional amendment would protect the Artificial Reef Development Fund in the constitution from being used for other programs. In recent years nearly $46 million has been swept from the Artificial Reef Development Fund to cover budget shortfalls.

The state legislature saw the need for protecting the fund from other uses in 2013, and passed Act 434 that resulted in proposed Amendment 8. A vote “For” would establish the Artificial Reef Development Fund in the constitution, and prohibit the use of money in the fund for purposes other than those described in the Artificial Reef Program. The protection of the fund ensures that the money can only be used for artificial reef program development and fisheries enhancement, which has provided recreational and commercial fishermen with expanded and enhanced fish habitat. A vote “Against” would leave the fund as it currently exists, only statutorily protected.

The Artificial Reef Program and the Fund established to support it were born out of the Louisiana Fishing Enhancement Act, passed in 1986. The goal of this program is to promote and facilitate establishment, maintenance and monitoring of artificial reefs. The program is administered by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and is overseen by the Artificial Reef Development Council.

When an oil rig is decommissioned, the federal government requires that it be disassembled and removed. The Artificial Reef Program gives the oil companies an alternative: to transform the rig into a reef. This costs the oil companies less money than hauling the rig to shore, so half of their savings is deposited to the Artificial Reef Development Fund. This funds the program including permitting, establishing, monitoring and maintenance of artificial reefs.

Many of these rigs to reefs exist 30-70 miles offshore, due to constraints on how far the rigs can be moved, and required water depth. However, funds generated by the program can be used to establish reefs made out of alternative materials closer to shore. These reefs are more accessible, and can be visited by more anglers who cannot get far out into the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the program started 74 artificial reefs sites have been established, using 336 obsolete platforms jackets and 8 drill rig legs. As many as 17 oil and gas structures were deployed in 2013. Thirty-two inshore reefs have been established out of shell, limestone, reef balls, and bridge rubble. All of these reefs mean more habitat for fish.

More info:

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana

 

 

This week is National Estuaries week. Estuaries occur where freshwater from a river meets the saltwater of the ocean. Here in Louisiana we have one of the largest, most productive estuaries in the world. The extensive Mississippi River basin meets the saltwater of the Gulf of Mexico at several places along the Louisiana coast, building a network of estuaries. A salinity gradient results from the mixing of the water, and provides a bountiful array of habitats for plants, wildlife, and fisheries.  Without freshwater, there is no estuary. Estuaries serve several functions that we in Louisiana enjoy immensely and have built a big part of our culture around.

Estuaries provide habitat and food sources for birds that need to rest and refuel for their migration. As a result, Louisiana is a wonderful duck hunting destination.

Another important function that an estuary provides is water filtration. In a natural system, when flood waters rise above the banks of the river they reach out into the surrounding estuary. The water then nourishes the marsh, providing the soil with important nutrients.

Estuaries, and wetlands in general, also act as storm buffers. This is a particularly important function in Louisiana. When a storm moves from water to land, the intensity of the storm is greatly reduced. The more extensive our estuaries are, the more the strength of the storm can be reduced before it hits a densely populated area.

Commercially important marine species need estuaries, even though they are marine! Nearly 735 species use an estuary at some point in their life cycle. The mixing of the fresh and salt water creates a unique habitat that many species use as a refuge or nursery to escape marine predators that cannot withstand the salinity gradients.

Louisiana is battling wetland and estuary loss at the rate of one football field an hour. The State Coastal Master Plan calls for a variety of project types to keep our coast working. Many of these projects involve moving sediment, building barrier islands, creating marsh, etc. And while each of these is important for a sustainable coast, they all only address the lack of sediment making it to the wetlands. The only strategy that addresses the lack of freshwater making it to the estuaries, and the only strategy that mimics the natural process that built this landscape, is diversions. River diversions are an important way to reintroduce freshwater (and sediment) into the estuary- the very thing that makes an estuary what it is.

Since the levees have cut off the river from the wetlands for decades, not only has Louisiana experienced land loss at an astonishing rate, we’ve also experienced saltwater intrusion. Salinity levels are higher closer to shore than would naturally occur, and we are losing our freshwater marsh and our swamps. We have seen some consequences of this so far, but some see this as a benefit- commercially important marine species are occurring closer to shore. However, even these same species need the estuary with freshwater at important points in their lifecycle. Ultimately, these resources will not be able to endure the complete loss of the estuarine habitat. The big hang-up on diversions is how they will affect our fisheries- people are worried that the salinity changes might change some resources. One can almost guarantee that they will. The resources will move further offshore where the salinity level suits them better. But, many of these resources are where they are artificially because of saltwater intrusion. The discussion about what will happen to our fisheries if we DON’T build diversions is a much more compelling one- without the mixing of freshwater and saltwater in the nursery of a fishery, there is a much greater unknown.

So, in honor or National Estuaries Week get out and appreciate an estuary. Experience the very special phenomenon of the mixing of two worlds- fresh and salt. Join the Camo Coalition and become an advocate for Louisiana’s estuaries. Go to the Take Action page and sign up for information and opportunities to take action for our wetlands.