Sediment+Dredging+to+Rebuild+Wetlands+in+the+Gulf+of+Mexico

In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, destroying anything that encountered her path. The state of Louisiana suffered large amounts of wind damage and widespread flooding, especially in its wetlands. To restore these eroded wetlands, officials from the state of Louisiana want to require the U.S. Corps of Engineers to dredge sediment from the Mississippi River and transport it. According to dictionary.reference.com, sediment dredging is the process of removing sand, silt, mud, etc. with a machine called a dredge (a machine used for removing earth by a means of a scoop, a series of buckers, a suction pipe, or the like).
 * Summary of Problem**



Let's Dredge Sediment Sediment dredging can be beneficial because it can restore the coastal wetlands. Using available materials from the Mississippi River would be a good option because, like the Bayou Dupont Project, it can restore hundreds of acres of wetlands. Restoring the coastlines will help preserve and develop habitats for wildlife animals and plants. It is important to keep the condition of wetlands in a good state because they act as nurseries to various species of plants and animals, including the ones harvested by humans.

It will also reduce flooding during hurricanes and decrease the cost of flood insurance. By taking materials from places, such as the Mississippi River, and controlling the amount of erosion that occurs, it will decrease the amount of water that will flow down in residential areas and will result in less flooding. This is good for families that cannot afford to pay high flood insurances, if any insurance at all.

The most efficient way of dredging is trailing suction dredging. There is minimum interference with sea traffic, the dredged load can be pumped ashore as reclamation, there is versatility in handling both cohesion-less and cohesive sediments, and they are constructed in various sizes for multiple tasks. It is also a good way to give jobs to Marine Corps members. Commonly, dredging is needed is in river routes that have become too shallow for boats to pass through. When dredging contaminated sediments, the most common type of dredge used is the Toyo eight inch submersible pump. It is hung from a crane and mounted with a Trimble GPS system to control the pump location.

[|dredging]

Let's Not Dredge Sediment

Though the wetlands need to be restored, the methods being used to do so are not proficient. First off, the Corps’ maintenance dredging program is not in compliance nor consistent with the State of Louisiana’s coastal management program (Lukens, 53-59), so funding for the project is almost non-existent. Sediment dredging in Louisiana has cost about $88 million but not all of the sediment being dredged is being used (Committee on the Restoration and Protection of Coastal Louisiana, National Research Council). “The Corps removes about 60 million cubic yards of sediment from navigation channels in the State of Louisiana every year but only about 12% of that material is used to rebuild our vanishing lands,” (CPRA Chairman, Garret Graves, Department of Natural Resources) (Angelle).

Not only is this project expensive, it also isn’t completely beneficial. Sediment dredging and transport causes the blocking of fresh water and sediment flow, which is actually accelerating the loss of coastal wetlands (San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission). It also creates a large sediment impoverishment to the area the sediment is being dredged from. Without the necessary sediments available, a large source of substrate nutrients that come from that particular sediment would also not be available. “Sediments are the key catalysts of environmental food cycles and the dynamics of water equality...” (“Pollution Issues”).

Along with those who are neutral to the subject, there are many people who are completely against the process of sediment dredging not only because of the waste of money and materials, but because of their own personal reasons, such as the destruction of personal property. Several petitions have been created to stop sediment dredging in other areas, such as the Port of Miami, “…dredging will adversely affect public health, safety, welfare and the property of others, because the [U.S. Army] Corps activity will cause destruction of the seawall and the abutting condominium property,” (“Dredging News Online”). There needs to be another way to replenish the wetlands in Louisiana because it has been proven that sediment dredging is not the most effective.



Citations

"Wetland Restoration." EPA Enviromental Protection Agency Mon. 12 Dec 2011<[]> "Gulf of Mexico Oil Spilling." Mon 12 Dec 2011 <[]>
 * Pros:**

"Wetland Importance." //Gulf Restoration Network: United For a Healthy Gulf//. Gulf Restoration Network, n.d. Web. 7 Dec 2011. .
 * Cons:**

Angelle, Scott. "LA Officials Take Step to Require the Corps of Engineers to Beneficially Use Lower Mississippi River Dredged Material ." //Department of Natural Resources State of Louisiana//. Department of Natural Resources, 01 Dec 2009. Web. 7 Dec 2011. [].

Lukens, Jennifer. "National Coastal Program Dredging Policies." //OCRM/CPD Coastal Management Program Policy Series//. 1. (2000): 53-59. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. .

Committee on the Restoration and Protection of Coastal Louisiana, National Research Council, First. //Drawing Louisiana's New Map: Addressing Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana//. The National Academies Press, 2006. eBook. [].

"Dredging and Sediment Management." //San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission//. San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, n.d. Web. 7 Dec 2011. [].

"Sedimentation." //Pollution Issues//. Advameg, 2011. Web. 9 Dec 2011. .

"Another group files to stop Port of Miami dredging." //Dredging News Online//. Clarksons, 09 Dec 2011. Web. 9 Dec 2011. .