LWF submitted comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) urging them to delay a decision on a proposed flow control structure at Neptune Pass, a waterway near the mouth of the Mississippi across from Buras.
“The US Army Corps of Engineers has an opportunity to better balance navigation needs and ecosystem benefits in the Mississippi River Delta. Without more robust scientific analysis and increased transparency to include stakeholders, decisions made today for a single issue could result in perpetual problems, including harmful impacts to a flourishing ecosystem and significant additional costs in the future.
Scientific study is ongoing in this area to understand the sediment mass balance to investigate if the land being built in Bay Denesse and Quarantine Bay are resulting from shoaling of the channel or if that sediment is being delivered from the river. This information is critical to understand.”
The Corps has proposed making a flow control structure to limit water flow into Neptune Pass, which is now taking 16% of the river’s discharge. LWF urges the Corps to wait for additional data to be analyzed before making a decision on the proposed structure.
Watch a quick overview about the expansion of Neptune Pass here.