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Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study
(LCA)
The Issue
 Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are eroding at an alarming rate. Since 1932, coastal Louisiana has lost more than 1,883 square miles; an area that is larger than the size of the State of Delaware. While the typical land loss rate is about 16 square miles per year, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita eliminated approximately 217 square miles of coastal wetlands in two days.
A number of factors have been identified as contributing to the erosion of Louisiana’s coast. Natural activities such as hurricanes, subsidence, and sea level rise are responsible, as well as direct and indirect environmental impacts. For example, oil and gas exploration and dredging in the coastal zone has lead to the introduction of saltwater, killing freshwater ecosystems and increasing erosion. Another contributing factor in coastal land loss is the change in sediment introduction to coastal ecosystems by the Mississippi River. Man-made structures along the river have resulted in a significant decrease in the natural introduction of river water to the neighboring ecosystems, which historically helped nourish healthy wetlands. Sediment deposits formed natural ridges and barrier islands that served as south Louisiana’s first line of defense against storm surge.
Aside from the loss of risk reduction against hurricane storm surge in south Louisiana, there are major implications of coastal erosion for the entire nation. Louisiana is the top producer of domestic oil with over $70 billion in revenue annually. As wetlands convert to open water, pipelines carrying a great deal of the nation’s energy supply become increasingly susceptible to storm damage which could affect the price or availability of gasoline after a hurricane. The coastal ecosystems in Louisiana also support the top fisheries producer in the lower 48 states with over $3 billion annually in revenue. Another concern about wetlands loss is the deterioration of habitat for wintering birds, endangered species, and commercially harvested fish.
Initial Action
In 1990, Congress passed the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA, or “Breaux Act”) creating a program to fund small scale, localized coastal restoration projects in Louisiana. By the late 1990s, it became apparent that CWPPRA’s scope and funding, though very effective for implementing local projects quickly, was not adequate to address the large scale wetlands degradation. A much broader approach and substantially more resources would be necessary to reverse the breakdown of an ecosystem.
Information gathered from monitoring CWPPRA projects across Louisiana’s coast provided substantial guidance for a broader approach to restoration. A wide array of stakeholders collaborated to produce Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana, a plan released in 1998 that proposed integrating hurricane storm surge risk reduction and restoration efforts throughout the region by restoring and/or mimicking the natural processes that previously built and maintained the coast. With Coast 2050 as its blueprint, USACE began the development of the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study in 1999. The study area, which includes 20 parishes in the Louisiana coastal area stretching from the Mississippi to Texas state lines, is comprised of two wetland-dominated ecosystems, the Deltaic Plain of the Mississippi River and the closely linked Chenier Plain, both of which are influenced by the Mississippi River.
The goals of the LCA Study were to;
• Identify the most critical human and natural ecological needs of the coastal area
• Present and evaluate conceptual alternatives for meeting the most critical needs
• Identify the kinds of restoration features that could be implemented in the near-term (within 5 to 10 years) that address the most critical needs, and propose to address these needs through features that provide the highest return in net benefits per dollar of cost
• Establish priorities among the identified near-term restoration features
• Describe a process by which the identified priority near-term restoration features could be developed, approved, and implemented
• Identify the key scientific uncertainties and engineering challenges facing the effort to protect and restore the ecosystem, and propose a strategy for resolving them
• Identify, assess and, if appropriate, recommend feasibility studies that should be undertaken within the next 5 to 10 years to fully explore other potentially promising large-scale and long-term restoration concepts
• Present a strategy for addressing the long-term needs of coastal Louisiana restoration beyond the near-term focus of the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Plan (LCA Plan)
Partners
The LCA study initiative was jointly funded and managed on a 50/50 basis by USACE and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Several other agencies contributed to the LCA study and the plan it produced, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey. Most recently, the Louisianan Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority became the local cost-share sponsor.
Status
The LCA Study was released for public comment in 2004. Before Congress could consider authorizing the plan's recommendations, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit Louisiana in 2005. The LCA Study made several recommendations that were ultimately authorized by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007 (Title VII):
• Fifteen near-term critical restoration projects
• Beneficial use of dredged material program
• Coastal restoration demonstration projects
• Science and technology program
• Studies on long-term restoration concepts
For more information on the LCA program, please visit: www.lca.gov.
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