NOAA and partners recently began construction of the almost 1,200-acre Upper Barataria marsh creation project. This is one of NOAA’s largest habitat restoration efforts to date and will build upon our previous efforts to restore wetland habitats in Louisiana.
This project is instrumental in restoring and creating habitat, and supporting NOAA’s goals and priorities for climate resilience. Additionally, it will provide more than 140 construction-related jobs, further enhancing habitat restoration’s economic benefits in the region.
The project was approved by the Deepwater Horizon Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group to restore habitats impacted by the 2010 oil spill. It is underway through NOAA’s strong partnership with the Louisiana Coastal Protection Authority, who are leading Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan.
Project Details
Construction, maintenance, and monitoring of the project is expected to cost up to $181 million. It is expected to create up to 1,183 acres of intertidal wetlands and marsh. The new, healthy coastal wetland habitat will support diverse species of fish and wildlife, and help reduce impacts of future storms on other coastal resources and communities.
The construction process will fill target areas with approximately 8.4 million cubic yards of sediment. The sediment will be dredged from the Mississippi River and pumped through pipelines over 13 miles. That’s almost enough sediment to fill two Superdome stadiums!
Louisiana and the Barataria Basin are in the midst of a land loss crisis. The basin has lost more than 276,000 acres of land since the 1930s. Wetlands in the basin were the most heavily impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which accelerated a severe land loss trend threatening Louisiana’s estuaries. The oil spill and response activities also significantly increased the rate of wetland loss in the area. Large-scale restoration projects help slow the high rate of land loss in Louisiana, while providing habitat for valuable Gulf of Mexico fisheries.
The contractor, Weeks Marine, Inc., began construction in late 2021. The project will have one construction phase to maximize cost effectiveness and take approximately 26 months to complete.
Stay Tuned for More Announcements
For the latest information, visit our Upper Barataria Marsh Creation Project page.
Information about other projects in Louisiana can be found through the interactive Gulf Spill Restoration Projects map.
