Dolphin-Dooming Barataria Bay Project Halted

For several years, AWI has opposed a project to divert fresh sediment-rich river water into Barataria Bay in an effort to restore Mississippi River Delta land lost to erosion. Delta restoration is a laudable goal, but the means chosen here would essentially eradicate the bay’s resident bottlenose dolphin population. (See AWI Quarterly, fall 2024.) These marine mammals cannot tolerate exposure to freshwater for long. The project would also displace human residents of Plaquemines Parish and destroy shellfish beds these Louisianans rely on, all to build about 20 square miles of land over the course of 50 years.

To our profound dismay, ground was broken last year on this projected $2 billion boondoggle. After costs ballooned to $3 billion, however, Governor Landry called a halt to construction to reassess the project’s scale. Then, in late April, the Army Corps of Engineers suspended the project’s construction permit, due in part to a number of irregularities with the original environmental review process. AWI had been resigned to working as best we could to mitigate the horrific impacts of this freshwater influx on the dolphins, but the population has now received a (hopefully permanent) reprieve.

Program Terms: Marine Wildlife

AWI Quarterly Terms: Feature Article