The Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group is considering design alternatives for the Large-Scale Barataria Marsh Creation: Upper Barataria Component project. The preferred design alternative, included in a draft restoration plan now open for public comment for 30 days until April 20, 2020, would create 1,207 acres of intertidal marsh in Upper Barataria Bay. The trustees will hold a public webinar to present the plan on April 2, 2020. The plan, fact sheets in English and Vietnamese, and the executive summary in Vietnamese are all below.

The plan, Draft Phase II Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #3.3 (PDF, 155 pages) includes evaluation of three design alternatives for the Upper Barataria marsh creation project. The preferred alternative represents a balance among the area of marsh being created, construction time required, and cost. The estimated total cost for the preferred alternative is approximately $176,000,000.

The project was initially evaluated for engineering and design funding in the 2018 Strategic Restoration Plan to help compensate the public for injuries to wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats in the Barataria Basin, where the greatest oiling impacts from the Deepwater Horizon spill occurred.

Public Comment Period and Webinar

Public comments will be accepted for 30 days through April 20, 2020, and we will hold a public webinar on April 2, 2020. We encourage you to review and comment on the draft plan by submitting comments online, by mail, or during the webinar.

We will conduct a public webinar on April 2, 2020 at 4:00 pm CT. We will present the draft plan and take written comments submitted through the webinar.

The presentation will be posted on the web shortly after the webinar is conducted.

Documents