Posted on February 12, 2025
A nearly $3 billion coastal restoration project in Louisiana remains in legal limbo. That’s because two lawsuits have stalled progress on the massive Mid-Barataria sediment Diversion (MBSD) for more than a year. The delay began not long after the project officially got underway in August of 2023. Despite the delay, Louisiana’s top coastal agency, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), still plans to spend $1.8 billion on projects to protect the southern portion of the state in the next fiscal year.
The question right now is how much of that money will be spent on the MBSD?
The project would use a new channel to reconnect the Mississippi River and the basin. According to officials, the diversion would once again allow freshwater and sediment to flow into the basin to stop the land loss caused by erosion and subsidence – and by sea level rise. According to planners, the MBSD would rebuild as much as 21 square miles of new land in the bay over 50 years.
But ask the leader of the authority’s board, Gordy Dove, what happens next, and the answer is anything but clear. Dove tells Louisiana Public Radio’s Coastal Desk that officials still don’t know if they will move forward with the project, even though his agency says it plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on it over the next fiscal year.
As Dove explained, “We’re trying to get everyone satisfied and look at what’s best for Louisiana.” Dove says the agency is prioritizing marsh projects that build land by dredging and pumping sediment as well as hard infrastructure projects like levees and other flood protection. The state estimates that it has lost just over 2,000 square miles of land _ a tract about the size of Delaware _ since 1932. If nothing is done, as much as 4,200 square miles could vanish over the next 50 years depending on sea level.
Further complicating the situation is the source of the nearly $3 billion in funding. It comes from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster settlement money. In October, federal officials warned in a letter to the CPRA that they expected the state to return federal funds allocated to the project if the state decides not to move forward with the MBSD.
Governor Jeff Landry sent a letter to federal officials on December 10 stating there are “legitimate issues of concerns” that are impossible to ignore. Gov. Landry’s letter listed the legal challenges, the fast-rising costs of construction along with the negative impacts on local wildlife and the fishing industry.
