Tripp says that natural flows of sediment, salt and silt into the estuary that had existed for thousands of years have been disrupted by Corps-built flood control and navigation levees along the Mississippi. Many environmental groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund, support the project. The authority has said it will spend up to $20 million to protect dolphins in the estuary the Corps project permit requires the agency to develop plans for both marine mammal protection and wetland mitigation. New Orleans and communities surrounded by levees will become more exposed to storms because the wetlands just won’t be there to absorb the brunt of severe weather, he says. “If we do nothing … the whole system will deteriorate further.” Tripp says that conditions within the basin will change no matter what approach is pursued, including deciding not to act. Local fishing and some wildlife groups say the infusion of freshwater will devastate the local Bottlenose dolphin population.īut Jim Tripp, a former attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund who has worked on coastal issues since the 1970s, says the dolphins are not native to the basin and only migrated there when the water grew saltier. The project, in the works since 2013, is controversial. Patrick Quigley, Gulf Coast Air Photo for NOAA. “Bottom line, this is a substantial step forward … to demonstrate that it is possible to ultimately get to a process where they can have a sustainable coastline.”
Thomas Sands, a retired former commander of the Corps’ New Orleans District and now a senior advisor at Dawson & Associates, told ENR that the sediment diversion project is the cornerstone of the coastal authority's master plan. He said the approvals would "make our approach to coastal restoration and protection efforts stronger, more effective and more innovative.”
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