We encourage you to read this article by Courthouse News about the East Grand Lake project, which we are trying to stop.
Response to CPRA Atchafalaya Master Plan Process
ABK attended CPRA's public solicitation process and it is outrageous!
In the past, the Atchafalaya Basin Program, now under CPRA, has completely ignored the public opposition to projects to fill wetlands in the Basin and/or to benefit special interest groups to the detriment of our Basin. CPRA has gone a step further by making sure the majority of the public and Basin fishermen cannot participate.
The webinars are done in a way that requires both a computer and a smart phone to give input and is not accessible to people who have limited technology. The great majority of the fishermen are not computer literate and do not have a computer.
The only option to submit projects is through their website, a very complicated and slow process that requires a high level of computer skills.
ABK was again excluded, this time from all committees (Steering Committee, Working Group, Collaborative Engagement Group) despite the fact that we are the most important group protecting the Basin and, with well over 2,000 members, the main voice for the many communities that depend on the Basin for sustenance and flood protection.
CPRA took out flood protection as a goal to be included in the Master Plan.
The window for public project proposals closes at the end of January, without opportunity to submit projects throughout the 4 year process. The brief time frame, over the holiday season, makes it extremely difficult, nearly impossible, for groups like ours, just finding out about this process, to propose a plan that is supported by local communities and governments.
CPRA’s response
The entire ABK staff attended the Morgan City public meeting. The response to our complaints was that the fishermen will have to adapt to the new world if they want to participate and that ABK was not invited into any committee because they can’t invite everyone.
Their reason for not considering flood protection is because that is the Corps’ job.
Public solicitation meetings
CPRA is hosting this series of public solicitation meetings in regard to developing their Master Plan for the Atchafalaya Basin. No new projects will be accepted after the end of January.
Here are some suggested questions for those who wish to participate to consider:
Why was Atchafalaya Basinkeeper not invited to any of the committees?
By doing that, you are silencing the voices of fishermen, communities and others that depend on ABK to be heard.
Why can’t projects be submitted in a word document or on paper?
The way you are doing it does not allow members of the local communities to participate.
Why are you doing webinars that prevent the majority of the public from fully engaging?
Why don’t you include flood protection and maintaining flood capacity as a must for any project that is submitted?
As the Atchafalaya Basin is critical for flood protection of South Central Louisiana, we must protect the Basin's flood water holding capacity at all costs, as the Morganza Spillway is becoming obsolete, with devastating consequences to all of us.
Projects that divert river water into the swamps have proven to destroy wetlands, lakes and bayous by filling them with sand and silt. The destruction happens very fast and is permanent. Past projects disguised as "water quality" projects have instead filled up swamps, lakes and bayous. Examples of such projects are Bayou Eugene, Buffalo Cove and Beau Bayou. The destruction is permanent, and the loss of flood capacity can never be restored. Protecting the deep-water habitat, like lakes and bayous, is critical, as fish need water during low water times. We caution that river diversions are destructive and should not be supported. Water quality should be restored by removing the levee-like spoils (spoil banks) created by the reckless dumping of dredged material by oil companies.
While the dredging to restore lakes and bayous is important, we want to caution against dumping the dredged material in long levee-like "spoil banks" along waterways, that destroy critical water flow, doing more harm than good to wetlands. When voicing support for dredging--for example Big Bayou Pigeon--please be sure to insist that dredged material is deposited in a hill, or removed from the Basin entirely, and NOT left to canalize the bayou with long, uninterrupted stretches of spoil banks, as was the case with the “restoration” work done of Bayou Postillion. It does more harm than good if the dredged material is placed carelessly.
If you value the Atchafalaya Basin for fishing, crawfishing, cypress/tupelo forests, flood protection and our culture, we hope you stand with us in telling CPRA that we want ABK to be included in any or all of the committees, to ensure the Basin is not filled in and projects should be done responsibly and not to benefit corporations that push for systematic destruction for their own selfish interests!
Public Solicitation Meetings:
November 4, 5:30 pm
Port of Morgan City Administrative Office
7327 LA-182
Morgan City, LA 70380
November 6, 5:30 pm
Point Coupee Library, New Roads Branch
201 Claiborne Street
New Roads, LA 70760
November 7, 5:30 pm
Cecilia Civic Center
2464 Cecilia Sr H South Hwy
Breaux Bridge, LA 70517
November 13, 5:30 pm
Iberville Parish Courthouse, Plaquemine (2nd Flood Council Chambers)
58050 Meriam Street
Plaquemine, LA 70764
November 14, 2:00 pm
Virtual Atchafalaya Master Plan Public Solicitation Meeting
Louisiana Crawfish Company Makes News for Atchafalaya Basin
Our partners at Louisiana Crawfish Company are spreading the word on the issues in the Atchafalaya Basin. Below is a link to a current news article and their Youtube videos.
Press Release 5.15.24
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2024
Media Contacts:
Dean Wilson, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, enapay3@aol.com, 225-692-4114
Stephannie Kettle, Healthy Gulf, skettle@healthygulf.org 407.361.9432
Lisa Jordan, Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, lwjordan@tulane.edu, 504.314.2481
Lori Harrison, Waterkeeper Alliance, lharrison@waterkeeper.org, 703.216.8585
Environmental Groups, Local Crawfish Producers Bring Lawsuit to Challenge East Grand Lake Project in the Atchafalaya Basin
Legal Action Asks for the U.S. Army Corps “Dredge and Fill” Permit to be Vacated
(Louisiana) – Today, a plaintiff group, including Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West, Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club and its Delta Chapter, and Waterkeeper Alliance filed a lawsuit to challenge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s (CPRA) East Grand Lake (EGL) project in the Atchafalaya Basin. The lawsuit, presented by the Environmental Law Clinic at Tulane University School, contests the Corps’ granting of a Clean Water Act section 404 permit allowing the dredging and filling of impacted wetlands. This permit was granted to the Louisiana CPRA for the implementation of the EGL project.
“The EGL project threatens the sustainability and health of the Atchafalaya Basin’s wetlands and the communities who live and earn a living there,” said Daniel E. Estrin, General Counsel and Legal Director for Waterkeeper Alliance. “The Corps should never have approved the dredge-and-fill permit in the first place, and we are left with no choice but to sue to vacate the permit and stop the implementation of the EGL project.”
While the EGL project has been coined a “swamp enhancement project,” experience and sound science demonstrate that the project will lead to increased sedimentation in the East Grand Lake area. This will ultimately convert productive and vital swamp habitat into bottomland hardwood forest by introducing sediment-laden river water and physically dispersing dredged sediment in the area. Sedimentation severely harms the Basin because it decreases flood storage capacity, and the Basin is a vital part of Mississippi River flood control management.
“Sierra Club advocates for preservation of natural habitat and for preservation of public access to places of natural beauty. Available science and direct observation of the results of past projects show that the construction of diversions of Atchafalaya river water to wetland swamps has accelerated the filling of swamps with sediment,” said Woody Martin, Sierra Club Delta Chapter. “The proposed project would continue the loss of wetland swamps, which support wildlife and which are accessible to the public for fishing and recreation.”
As North America's largest contiguous swamp, the Atchafalaya Basin is among the world's most productive. The groups hold that failing to revoke the permit and cease EGL project implementation could lead to severe environmental and economic consequences. Local fisheries and crawfisheries could face limited access to East Grand Lake, while the introduction of nutrient-rich river water from agricultural runoff may worsen hypoxia, further degrading water quality. The Basin's wetlands are also vital for migratory birds across the Western Hemisphere, and the ability to store and release floodwaters helps protect south-central Louisiana from flooding.
“This is crazy. Every year the Basin is losing critically important flood capacity, putting cities like Lafayette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and our entire Mississippi River industrial corridor at a terrible risk from Mississippi River floods,” said Dean Wilson, Executive Director of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper. “Against the wishes of fishermen and communities alike, our state is destroying some of the most amazing wetlands in the world, the last bastion of the Cajun culture, the most important wetlands for migratory birds in the western hemisphere and the future of our state.”
"The Army Corps' reckless approval of the East Grand Lake project ignores both science and the dire consequences for the Atchafalaya Basin," added Marti Collins, Healthy Gulf Executive Director. "This project fails to consider the significant ecological changes and increased sedimentation that have occurred over the past decades. Similar projects, like Buffalo Cove, have already proven disastrous, silting in vital fishing areas and devastating local livelihoods. The Corps must halt this ill-conceived project and conduct a thorough, updated environmental assessment to prevent further damage to our wetlands and communities."
After decades of manipulation through flood control activities and oil and gas exploration activities, the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System’s natural water flow has already been severely altered. This has led to stagnant water, sedimentation, and associated loss of floodwater carrying capacity that impair the Basin’s ecosystem, navigation, and flood control abilities. A significant portion of these initiatives receive backing from oil and gas firms and large land corporations. These entities profit from alterations that disrupt commercial fishing and public access while facilitating the increased privatization of wetland forests for activities such as private logging and other purposes.
Often positioned as water quality projects, river diversions in the Basin permitted or conducted by the Corps, such as those occurring in Buffalo Cove, Coon Trap, and Beau Bayou, have already filled thousands of acres of swamp wetlands. This has led to the loss or severe degradation of approximately 75% of the Basin’s cypress swamps, lakes, and bayous. Without intervention the groups contend that these projects will irreparably change the environment and the lives of impacted communities.
“The EGL project, like all the other projects, will forever destroy the wetlands that crawfishermen depend on to make a living,” said Avery Theriot, President of Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West. “These wetlands are the heart of our Cajun culture.”
For more information, visit www.basinkeeper.org/east-grand-lake.
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Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, founded in 2004, is a member organization of Waterkeeper Alliance, representing over 2000 members. The mission of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper is to protect and restore the swamps, lakes, rivers, streams, and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin for future generations. For more information, visit basinkeeper.org.
Healthy Gulf is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico. Since 1994, Healthy Gulf’s mission has been to collaborate with and serve communities who love the Gulf of Mexico by providing the research, communications, and coalition-building tools needed to reverse the long pattern of over-exploitation of the Gulf’s natural resources. Visit healthygulf.org or follow @HealthyGulf on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.
Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West (LCPA-West) was formed in the late 80s-early 90s because of trespassing threats against crawfishermen in the Atchafalaya Basin. The mission of LCPA-West is to fight for and protect the free use of navigable waters and water bottoms of the Atchafalaya Basin and state. LCPA-West also fights to restore the Atchafalaya Basin to its natural state as much as possible and does everything possible to bring the polluters and abusers of the Basin to justice. The organization fights for all users of the basin. For more information, visit lcpawest.com.
The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The Sierra Club's stated mission is "to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.” For more information, visit act.sierraclub.org.
Waterkeeper® Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 300 community-based Waterkeeper Organizations
and Affiliates around the world, focusing citizen action on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. The Waterkeeper movement patrols and protects nearly six million square miles of rivers, lakes, and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. For more information, visit waterkeeper.org.
East Grand Lake Project - Permit issued
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just issued the permit for the East Grand Lake Project. This project calls for 12 cuts, that will bring sand and silt deep into the swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin.
Filling the Basin with sand and sediment reduces flood capacity. Once flood capacity is lost, it can never be restored. Maintaining the flood capacity in the Basin is crucial to protecting millions of people from Mississippi River Floods.
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and our partners have been fighting this project for over 10 years. Stopping this project will be our main priority for 2024.
Unanimous NO EGL!
Last night the Iberville Parish Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution against the East Grand Lake Project. We want to thank the entire council and specially Pete Kelly, Matt Jewel and Chasity Easley for their courage and integrity to move this forward. We all should be so proud of our councilmen and councilwomen!. For our children, always for them.
http://ibervilleparish.com/departments/council/videos 12/20/22 starting at 44:45
‘Stop Filling Our Basin - No East Grand Lake Project’ Atchafalaya Basin Fishermen Send Message to Regulators at Public Hearing
Crawfishermen, parish councilmen and local advocates spoke in opposition to CPRA’s proposed East Grand Lake Project in the Basin at a public hearing in Iberville Parish last week
(Plaquemine, LA) - Last week, the members of the public attended a public hearing to tell the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) they do not want the East Grand Lake Project constructed in the Atchafalaya Basin. Live testimony was offered in addition to the more than 2,000 individuals who have signed a petition in opposition to the project.
The Atchafalaya Basin Program’s East Grand Lake Project has been on the books for years but the applicant agency - the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) - is now pushing for permits to construct. The contentious project proposes to make cuts in elevated banks and spoil piles to introduce river water into back swamps in the East Grand Lake area of the Flat Lake/Belle River water management units on the east side of the Atchafalaya Basin. CPRA claims the goal of the project is to improve water quality and forest health, but locals who live, work and recreate in the Basin are all too familiar with promises like these to be convinced.
Jody Meche
Public Official/Crawfisherman
Crawfishers and hunters who regularly navigate through the Basin told LDEQ they don’t want the project because, like other similar projects constructed in Buffalo Cove and Beau Bayou, rather than deliver fresh water to improve fisheries these projects divert sediment from introduced water and silt up the backswamps until they are no longer navigable by boat. A recurrent theme of the hearing was ‘what use is water quality if you can’t get there?’ “I hope that all of the opposition testimony against the EGL project offered at the public hearing will convince LDEQ not to certify this project for the sake of preserving our Atchafalaya Basin,” stated Jody Meche, commercial crawfishermen and president of the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West.
AtchafalayaBasinkeeper
Dean Wilson
Comments also were made to remind CPRA that the Basin is a spillway protecting much of coastal Louisiana from Mississippi River floods, Dean Wilson, Executive Director for Atchafalaya Basinkeeper said “floods from the filling of the Basin are already taking place, last year we experienced a historic flood from Bayou Sorrel and Bayou Pigeon all the way to Morgan City because the Basin is filling in with sand and silt. The Basin is losing flood capacity in part because of projects like this, threatening our entire industrial corridor, the port of South Louisiana and millions of people from future Mississippi River floods. Irresponsible is not a strong enough word to describe projects like this”
Advocacy organizations working to protect the Basin, including Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Delta Chapter of Sierra Club, as well as lawyers from the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and General Russel Honoré also spoke in opposition of the project. General Honoré bemoaned the continued mismanagement of the Basin, to the benefit of special interest groups but to the detriment of the swamps and communities that rely on the Basin.
Of the few speakers in support of the project - including proponents of the project from The Nature Conservancy and the US Geological Survey - noticeably missing in action was the applicant agency, CPRA. Some of the attendees stated they showed up to learn more about the project, the proposed activities and claimed benefits, but CPRA failed to deliver. The agency neither presented any information about the project nor offered public comment. Nevertheless, a few of the local fishermen opened the door for more communication, inviting the agencies to join them in the Basin and see what’s happening on the ground for themselves.
It’s not too late to share your comment with the regulators! In addition to the public hearing, LDEQ will accept any written comments on the East Grand Lake project submitted by no later than January 9, 2023 at 4:30 pm. Information on how and where to submit written comments are provided below.
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To view the public notice for this project and LDEQ’s public hearing and comment period, visit the following link: https://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view?doc=13524783
The notice provides: “Comments on the water quality certification must be received by 4:30 pm CST, Monday, January 9, 2023. Delivery may be made to the drop-box at 602 N. 5th St., Baton Rouge, LA 70802. U.S. Mail may be sent to LDEQ, Public Participation Group, P.O. Box 4313, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4313. Emails may be submitted to DEQ.PUBLICNOTICES@LA.GOV and faxes sent to (225) 219-3309. Persons wishing to receive notice of the final water quality certification decision must include a complete mailing address when submitting comments. [and that] All correspondence should specify AI Number 210833, Water Quality Certification WQC 220609-01, and Activity Number CER20220001.”
To learn more information about the East Grand Lake project, including public notices, background chronology, comments and expert opinions, visit Atchafalaya Basinkeeper’s ‘East Grand Lake’ page at the following link: https://www.basinkeeper.org/east-grand-lake
To sign onto the petition opposing the East Grand Lake Project, visit the following link: https://chng.it/NZy6hcLy
Contacts:
Dean Wilson, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, (225) 692-4114
EGL Permit Application has been submitted for Public Comment
"The damage to the Basin from these projects are larger than the damage caused by cypress logging" Dean Wilson
The Atchafalaya Basin needs YOU!
On 4/25/2022, the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has released the opportunity for public comments on the East Grand Lake Project Permit. There is only a 20 day window to get comments into the USACE. At this time, Dean and Misha are working with others to draft our official legal comments on the behalf of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper. We are contacting every alley and supporter for help. This is where you come in.
There are many ways to help. If you have not already, please sign the petition, Click here. (last Date to sign is May11, 2022) Or better yet, send your own comments to the USACE. Click here for full details. Funding is also crucial at this time, we are in need of legal, expert witnesses and science funding. Click Here to give.
You may have other ways to help. Education, please visit our website and learn more about this issue and what it means for the future of the Basin. Network, tell others what is happening. If you know of other groups, law firms, individuals or foundations that may care and may want to join in protection of the Basin, share our information.
The largest threat to the Atchafalaya Basin is sedimentation. The more the sedimentation, the less able the Atchafalaya Basin is able to withstand floodwaters and protect millions of people from flooding. The Basin has already lost many of its lakes, bayous and deep water habitat. Our duty is to do our best, to not lose any more. We have held this project at bay for over 10years. Our goal has been and continues to be to stop this project completely.
ABK and others are greatly concerned about this project. Please join us in protecting the Atchafalaya Basin and stay tuned in to the progress of our work.
Save the Louisiana Black Bear
Members of the Louisiana legislature have introduced a bill to require a bear hunting season in Louisiana beginning in 2023. Establishing a bear hunt before this unique subspecies has reached true recovery may well be the beginning of the end for the Louisiana black bear.
Let’s hope that we can learn from the experience of our neighbors in Florida where, despite vocal opposition, the state authorized a bear hunt in 2015. At that time, there were roughly 4,000 black bears in Florida, and with interest from 3,776 hunters, over 300 bears were killed (including nursing mothers and juveniles) in just two days, requiring the state to call off the hunt earlier than planned. Afterwards, the public was overwhelmingly opposed to a future bear hunt in Florida and the state has not since reopened bear hunts.
In Louisiana, we have nowhere near the bear population Florida did when it opened a hunt. Rather, the population of Louisiana black bears plummeted from over 80,000 to less than 500 Louisiana black bears estimated in 2016. In that same year, the bear was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife as a result of decades of degraded habitat, illegal and incidental kills and hunting (which was legal in the state until 1988). Basinkeeper and partners have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for prematurely delisting the Louisiana black bear without proving recovery of the subspecies and that case remains pending. The population estimates do not show healthy recovery. Two populations supporting true Louisiana black bears–one in the Tensas River Basin with 296 estimated bears and one in the Lower Atchafalaya River Basin with 164 estimated bears–are disconnected, and the population figures are not certain. With such few numbers and great distance separating these two populations, every bear is important to the survival of the subspecies.
Not only should the bear not be hunted until it has reached true recovery–which certainly cannot be claimed with less than 500 Louisiana black bears remaining in two isolated populations–but a hunt should not be considered at least until the court decides whether the bear should remain protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Please consider becoming a member or donating today to help fund this important work to protect the Louisiana black bear.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must evolve to meet the growing demands of climate-fueled flood risk
To meet climate-fueled flood risk, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must evolve. Basinkeeper and nearly 100 organizations sent a call to action urging the Corps to usher in a new era of comprehensive, and nature-based flood risk reduction: Protecting the Atchafalaya Basin is a must to protect us from catastrophic flooding. All river diversions to fill wetlands in the Basin away from the coast must stop and our environmental laws must be enforced.
To read the letter to the USACE click here
