The Big River Coalition is pleased to report that at last week’s Ports Association of Louisiana’s (PAL) conference that the Deputy Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities, Mr. Chip Kline, announced that the Governor’s Coastal Activities leadership intended to establish a more cooperative relationship with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The undersigned was pleased to hear Mr. Kline’s remarks that reiterated a new position statement recently released by Mr. Johnny Bradberry, the Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities:
"I'm a firm believer that a good relationship with the corps is a win for us," Bradberry said. "My priority is to enhance that relationship. It confounds me to think that having a negative relationship with the corps, an unhealthy relationship with the corps, will benefit us.”
Immediately following the PAL conference, I received the attached letter that had been requested on behalf of the Big River Coalition in 2015. The request was made after noting that the Coastal Protection Restoration Authority (CPRA) had recognized several restoration projects that were also outside the scope of the State’s Master Plan as “complimentary to or consistent with” the Master Plan. The request was specific to the beneficial use (“sediment recycling”) of dredged material through the use of cutterhead dredges in the area of Southwest Pass. The State’s Master Plan does not propose any restoration projects within the environmentally sensitive bird’s-foot delta of the Mississippi River.
Please note that Mr. Bradberry also serves Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards as the Chairman of the CPRA.
The much appreciated letter highlights that the cutterhead restoration efforts led by the Corps’ Mississippi Valley New Orleans (MVN), with the assistance of the Bar Pilots and Big River Coalition, is beneficially to the state’s restoration efforts.
As reproduced from the attached letter:
“The use of cutterhead dredges to maintain the navigation channel accompanied with the beneficial use of that material to restore the coast is supportive of our Master Plan and has directly benefited coastal Louisiana.”
The reintroduction of cutterhead dredges into the MVN’s tool box for channel maintenance has had multiple benefits, most notable are the restoration of nearly 5,000 acres of marsh/land and the ability to utilize cutterheads when hopper dredges have not been readily available.
Please note the attached letter and photograph for complete details, the photo clearly demonstrates the increased acreage as created by the MVN’s use of cutterhead dredges.
