Office of Conservation

ST. MARY AND VERMILION PARISH PROJECTS HELP PROTECT MARSH LAND IN COASTAL LOUISIANA — BREAUX ACT PROJECTS DEDICATED TODAY —

‘Reversing the Tide,' Louisiana's battle against coastal erosion, was demonstrated today in St. Mary Parish as the Cote Blanche Hydrologic project was dedicated and visited by federal, state and local officials, and the public. The Cote Blanche project and the Freshwater Bayou Bank Stabilization project in Vermilion Parish were constructed under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (Breaux Act) sponsored by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the state Department of Natural Resources.

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Jack Caldwell told participants gathered at Burns Point, southwest of Franklin, LA that the Cote Blanche project result will mean protecting some 2,223 acres of marsh in the area. Caldwell said, "the project was designed to reduce the destructive forces of nature and will address shoreline loss due to high wave energies as well as inland marsh loss due to rapid tidal exchange." Along the east side of West Cote Blanche Bay, a coastal region that encompasses 30,000 acres of intermediate and fresh marsh, seven weirs were constructed to provide hydrologic management and a vinyl sheetpile structure placed along a portion of East Cote Blanche Bay to abate shoreline erosion.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservationist (NRCS) Don Gohmert, who serves on the Breaux Act Task Force, commented that both restoration projects are examples of good planning, cooperation, and partnerships on the federal, state and local levels. Gohmert said, "the Cote Blanche project will minimize problems with vegetative wetland loss and the people of St. Mary Parish will realize the many benefits of these protected and enhanced acres of marsh over time."

In Vermilion Parish in May of this year, the DNR and NRCS completed work on the west bank of Freshwater Bayou Canal near Little Vermilion Bay, where over 23,300 linear feet of rock dike will protect over 1300 acres of managed marsh that borders Freshwater Bayou Canal. This project combats the influences of tidal fluctuation and saltwater intrusion. Cypress Gas Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Tejas Energy of Texas shared in the construction of the project.

The federal/state funding partnership included a 85 percent/15 percent cost share match. The total cost of the Cote Blanche project is approximately $6,466,375. The state's portion of that total is $969,957. The Vermilion Parish Freshwater Bayou project figures were $680,000 federal share and $120,000 state share.

Seventy-four active Breaux Act projects have been funded since 1990 and over sixty-four thousand acres of marsh have been created, restored, or protected.

Editors: For more information, contact the DNR Public Information Office at (225) 342-8955.