The purpose of the proposed action is to restore the exchange of water within the wetlands by constructing berm cuts and to plant approximately 74 acres of bottomland hardwood and swamp species to re-establish those species lost to mortality. These actions would satisfy the mitigation requirements related to the West Bank and Vicinity Project as authorized prior to Hurricane Katrina.

Mitigation requirements, plans, and designs were originally defined in the three Feasibility and Environmental Impact Statements for the West Bank and Vicinity, New Orleans, Louisiana Hurricane Protection Project and in Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) #498 (2012). Changes in the environment since the release of SEA #498 have necessitated a reassessment of the mitigation plan at the St. Charles site. This SEA #498A supplements SEA #498 (USACE 2012).