Restoring and sustaining Louisiana’s eroding coast

The sustainability of the Delta system has been a concern to scientists and policymakers for many years. Both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with overall responsibility for management of the Mississippi River for flood control and navigation, and the State of Louisiana have been engaged in major planning initiatives to address this issue over the course of the last decade. The State of Louisiana’s 2012 Comprehensive Master Plan offers an important step forward, prioritizing the projects the state and federal government are now undertaking to combat coastal erosion.

Changing Course says that the dual role that Mississippi River sediment plays in the region — as both the Delta’s life source and a key challenge for the navigation industry — has never fully been jointly explored within the context of Delta restoration. The science and engineering of how these roles can be managed together is complex, but significant work has been started to identify holistic solutions.

The state’s 2012 Master Plan and its current implementation are building on this work, suggesting, for example, that a “channel realignment” of the lower River may have impressive land-building potential, and that in combination with upstream sediment diversions, almost all of the River’s sediment load could potentially be captured and utilized for land-building, while minimizing the role of these sediments in clogging the navigation channel.

The meet the challenge of restoring the health and viability of the Delta, Changing Course, with the support and participation of the State of Louisiana and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has called on experts from the private sector to develop and assess new designs for the Lower Mississippi River (below New Orleans) through a competitive process which allows for creativity and flexibility which could not typically be achieved in a formal government process.

Competing teams have developed visions for a self-sustaining Delta landscape. Changing Curse’s brief to the teams was clear: they must restore the Mississippi River’s natural land-building capacity as part of a self-sustaining coastal ecosystem and must continue to support the high-functioning navigation system in the lower river.

The teams were commissioned to create innovative — and implementable — solutions. Their design and river management solutions build on the State’s Master Plan, maximizing use of the River’s freshwater and sediment for land-building while achieving the best outcomes for navigation, ecosystem restoration, flood management, socio-economic issues, and sustainable community development. The proposed solutions were also expected to allow for the continuing operation of river-based navigation during any construction or alignment phase.

The resulting visions have been vetted by technical experts, stakeholder and community interests, and the public. Importantly, the proposals are tailored to be parallel, synergistic, and additive to Louisiana’s ongoing official master planning efforts.

Teams were selected for the two-phase competition through an extensive review process, including an open Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process and a subsequent Request for Proposal (RFP) stage. Shortlisted teams were invited to attend an RFP Forum in New Orleans. During this forum, teams participated in a series of presentations and discussions with selected stakeholders, experts, government partners, and Changing Course advisory team members.

Selected teams were commissioned to spend five months creating a Framework Design, consisting of River management proposals which maximize effective use of river sediments for protection and restoration of the Delta landscape while addressing the needs and goals of the industries — especially the navigation industry, communities, and economies of the delta.

Changing Course stresses that in designing solutions for a sustainable coast, the competitors had specifically to address that unsolved challenge identified in the state’s Master Plan — how to maximize use of the Mississippi River’s water and sediment toward its mouth to rebuild Delta wetlands while continuing to meet the needs of navigation and coastal industries, and providing risk reduction for communities.

Winning teams
Last week, Changing Course announced its winning teams and the teams’ 100-year visions for restoring and sustaining the Mississippi River Delta. The winning teams — comprising top engineers, coastal scientists, planners, and designers — are Baird & Associates, Moffatt & Nichol, and Studio Misi-Ziibi.

“We challenged the world’s top experts to find the most innovative ways to make sure that New Orleans and southeast Louisiana aren’t held hostage to worsening storms, rising seas and a disappearing delta,” said Steve Cochran, Associate Vice President of Ecosystems at Environmental Defense Fund and a member of the Changing Course leadership team. “We hope the winning ideas will help citizens, communities, industries and governments engage in real conversations about what it’s going to take to make this important region more resilient and prosperous.”

The winning teams’ designs are based on a 100-year planning horizon and focus on maximizing the Mississippi River’s natural and sustainable land-building potential while taking into the account of needs of navigation and other industries, flood control and sustainable community development — a challenge raised by the state of Louisiana’s master planning process.

“Because of the quality of the work, the State has committed to bringing the technical work from Changing Course into its process of analyzing the management scheme for the Lower Mississippi River,” said Kyle Graham, Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority executive director. “We look forward to working with the teams.”

The solutions proposed by the winning teams focus primarily on the Mississippi River south of New Orleans.

Each of the winning teams offered a different vision, but all three identified three major themes as critical to sustaining the Mississippi River Delta today and into the future:

• A clear focus on a sustainable delta through using the natural forces of the Mississippi River
• Maximum integration of navigation, flood control and restoration, including consideration of ideas for a better and more sustainable navigation channel
• Consideration of a gradual transition of industry and communities into more protected and resilient communities, over time

“As sea levels rise, communities around the world, particularly in major river deltas, need novel approaches to find sustainable solutions. Changing Course is a great example of how world class expertise can be combined with local wisdom to produce ideas that work,” said Dr. Don Boesch, Changing Course leadership team member and Professor of Marine Science and President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.