Louisiana) The Atchafalaya Basin is one of the great swamp wonders of the world. It’s an amazing asset for Louisiana because of its ecological value and, like so much of the state’s coast, the natural features of the Basin play very important roles in protecting humans and the built environment from flooding–whether from the Gulf or from the Mississippi River. One of its most human-kind values is as a floodway to handle major Mississippi floods and protect all of us in Southcentral Louisiana from the ravages of the Mississippi River, as suffered in 1927 and nearly again in 1973. Many people do not realize that it has this very unique role in absorbing half the Mississippi River’s flood waters in a major flood and then dispensing them down on the coast. That was the original design in the 1950’s by the Corps of Engineers. Decades of improper management have resulted in the loss of flood protection and affected fisheries and the environment as a whole. The loss of the Basin will forever alter bird migrations and the future of humans living in Southcentral Louisiana.
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper just released an assessment of the state of the Atchafalaya Basin and the threats to our future here in Southcentral Louisiana, prepared by Dr. Ivor van Heerden.
The assessment analyzes the history of the Atchafalaya Basin from a flood protection perspective and explains the grim reality that the Basin cannot protect us from major Mississippi River floods any longer and the reasons why. This assessment is invaluable to understand the catastrophic consequences of the way the Basin has been managed to this day, and how to properly manage it in the future.
The synopsis and complete assessment can be found at www.basinkeeper.org/research.
“The threat is very real, but there are things that we can do that would alleviate that threat, restoring our coast at the same time. CPRA and the Corps of Engineers were presented with a management plan that, as of today, has the support of local communities and six different parish governments. It is time that we all work together for the future of our children here in Southcentral Louisiana,” Dean Wilson, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper.
The management plan can be found at www.basinkeeper.org/management-plan.
“Because of mismanagement of the Atchafalaya Basin; because of uncontrolled oil and gas activities within its confines; and because of political rather than ecological decisions, the Basin has lost half, maybe more than half of that capacity. The Mississippi River is connected to the Basin during flood times by a series of water control structures, which can no longer function as they were designed. Louisiana now faces, in the next big Mississippi flood, a potential catastrophe on the order of what happened in 1927,” Dr. Ivor van Heerden.
“Even though it has been apparent for years, especially to the people that are in the Basin–the sportsfishers and crawfishers who have been saying we are losing our deep water habitat–Dr. Ivor’s report brings about the conclusive evidence that there is a factual problem behind the anecdotal/ lived experiences. A problem that affects the future of humans living in Southcentral Louisiana,” Monica Fisher, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper Development Director.
“To those of us that live in and around the Basin and make a living in the Basin, this is very important and we are so glad that Basinkeeper and Dr. Ivor van Heerden have put together this assessment. We’ve seen the negative effects to the Basin and suffered the consequences from the Corps’ mismanagement, lack of enforcement and oil and gas canals. We’ve seen the disasters that they’ve caused,” Avery Theriot, President Louisiana Crawfish Association-West and on the Board of Directors for Atchafalaya Basinkeeper.
