Less than half of the water, and just 19 percent of the sediments, carried in the Mississippi River past the Atchafalaya make it to the Gulf. The finding casts new light on the potential of diversions to create land in adjacent basins — a key strategy in the state's $50 billion plan to save southeast Louisiana from washing away.
The results are alarming but the levels of toxins detected are well below those considered hazardous for human seafood consumption.
Researcher says he was surprised at how many people said they would help and how much they would commit.
"Every time a house is renovated, every time a nail is driven into a wall, there's going to be dust that comes out of that wall that will ultimately have lead in it."
The rallying cry for coastal restoration has been, “Put the river back into the marsh.” But a new study shows that fertilizer found in the river could weaken the marsh plants and soil. More troubling is another study that concludes we don’t really know whether these diversions are building land.
The corps would cover 65 percent of the cost — and more importantly, it would manage them.
Alternatives to plugging the crevasse include conduits beneath the levee or a bridge over the gap. These moves would buy time while scientists determine the pros and cons of this "free" diversion project and its potential impact on other projects planned as part of the struggle to rebuild a vanishing coast.
The huge barge has to be moved into place and sunk in order to seal the system from storm surge sweeping into Lake Borgne from the Gulf of Mexico, a process that takes more than nine hours and must begin four days before a hurricane strike is expected. In repeated tests, the barrier has yet to function reliably.
