Posted on December 6, 2021
HOLLY BEACH, La. (AP) — Dredging has begun for a marsh creation project in southwestern Louisiana.
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority said the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock is expected to complete the 308 acres (125 hectares) of marsh in January in Cameron Parish northwest of Holly Beach.
“The project will restore critical habitat for fish, wildlife and the people and communities who depend on those resources,” the authority’s executive director, Bren Haase, said Thursday.
This is the second phase of a $32 million project that started by creating 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers) of terraces to slow waves. The agency says those were finished in June.
The area has been hit hard by subsidence, drought, surges from storms including Hurricane Rita in 2005, and salt water retention caused by poor drainage resulting from silted-in canals.
The authority said 1.9 million cubic yards (1.5 million cubic meters) of sediment will be pumped from the Gulf of Mexico to make the new marsh.
“The Cameron Meadows project will fortify the natural buffer that protects southwest Louisiana from storm surge while restoring hundreds of acres of coastal marsh habitat lost due to hurricanes and other factors,” agency chairman Chip Kline said.
The state authority is working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with money allocated under the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act.
