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ENGINEERING WORK BEGINS ON THREE COASTAL PROJECTS
Coastal managers at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have begun engineering design and construction plans on three coastal restoration projects. The projects located in Terrebonne, Vermilion, Iberia, and Cameron parishes feature water management techniques and altered hydrology to increase marshland, fish, and wildlife productivity.
Oaks/Avery Canal Hydrologic Restoration (Vermilion and Iberia parishes), Lake Boudreaux Basin Freshwater Introduction and Hydrologic Management (Terrebonne parish) and Black Bayou Hydrologic Restoration (Cameron parish) are funded by federal/state monies through the Breaux Act, also known as CWPPRA.
Project features are as follows:
- Oaks/Avery Canal Hydrologic Restoration consists of bank stabilization with rock, water control structures, spoil bank maintenance, sediment fencing and vegetative plantings. A low level rock weir will provide protection to a critically eroding bank-line and shoreline areas along Oaks Canal, Vermilion Bay, Union Oil Canal, and Avery Canal. Along with DNR, the federal sponsor is the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Acadian Environmental, Inc. of Eunice was awarded an engineering contract at the cost of $162,905 to assist in the project.
- Lake Boudreaux Basin Freshwater Introduction and Hydrologic Management will increase the flow of freshwater and nutrients from Bayou Pelton into the upper Lake Boudreaux watershed located just southwest of Chauvin. The introduction of freshwater will reduce the negative effects of saltwater intrusion in the area and will promote vegetative diversity. The project will feature dredging and construction of seven sluice gates and water structures. Federal project sponsor is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. At a cost of $199,581, Gulf Engineers & Consultants, Inc. of Baton Rouge will work on the feasibility phase of the project, with the design phase to follow. The total project area includes 3,755 acres of intermediate marsh, 1,640 acres of brackish marsh and 1,827 acres of open water.
- Black Bayou Hydrologic Restoration is aimed at protecting and restoring marsh in the northwestern part of the Calcasieu-Sabine Basin including 25,529 acres of fresh/intermediate marsh and brackish marsh. The project will divert freshwater from the GIWW and create a hydrologic head that maximizes freshwater retention time and reduces saltwater intrusion and tidal action. Project features include a rock dike west of the Gum Cove Ridge, as well as a rock weir with a boat bay at the intersection of Block’s Creek and Black Bayou. Installation of 133,000 linear feet of vegetative plantings is also planned. Design and modeling assistance on the project will be provided by C. H. Fenstermaker & Associates, Inc. of Lafayette at a cost of $384,895. DNR and the National Marine Fisheries Service sponsor this CWPPRA project.
Editors: For more information on these projects, contact the DNR/OCRM Assistant Secretary Randy Hanchey at 225-342-3583 or Public Information at 225-342-8955.