4 ms·

A large amount of the marsh reduction is due to oil company activities. You're not wrong that we need to let the river shift, but that alone isn't going to save

A large amount of the marsh reduction is due to oil company activities. You're not wrong that we need to let the river shift, but that alone isn't going to save the coastline, and it's not the primary cause of the loss of the marshlands. Also, it should be noted that the largest lobby group against fresh water induction isn't environmental groups, but the commercial fishing industry. The second largest lobbying group against it is the recreational fishing community. Both of these groups have the support of environmental groups because fresh water induction would indeed kill a large percentage of anything living in that induction area, and those living things are part of the ecosystem that keeps the marshlands alive. I don't think OP is wrong in that a Harvey situation would be disastrous. A decent percentage of the pumps in the city are broken for most of the year, and without those pumps, a storm like Harvey would likely result in levels of flooding similar to the levees breaking.

beerandt 5y ago
Oil companies are responsible for the canals, but that only allowed salt water to intrude quicker after rain or floods. But it doesn't change the overall regime of becoming salt dominant. It just means maybe 40 freshwater days a year instead of 50 at s given location, but it doesn't change what's growing there. Additionally, marsh biological productivity has been directly tied to shoreline length. So a marsh with proper salinity levels and more shoreline will actually create more food, for more wildlife. I do believe that they ought to be held to the terms of their permits, which is typically to backfill anything not actively maintained or abandoned. And to prevent erosion beyond the limits of the permits. But it doesn't seem that's part of the negotiation. >fresh water induction would indeed kill a large percentage of anything living in that induction area, False- the locations already getting freshwater (not sediment) diversions and the natural breaks in the levees are the only healthy parts of the marsh right now. Go look at them on Google Earth. Mardi gras pass and the other natural breaks are the only places naturally building land outside of the Atchafalaya Delta. For the new sediment diversions: It's not going to kill anything-it's just going to push the brackish water out and the salt water further, for a limited number of weeks per year. The wildlife will move with it, as it always has. The commercial guys don't want to burn more gas to get to saltwater, and the oyster guys (the real money and lobby power) don't want conditions to change at their existing water bottom leases. >and those living things are part of the ecosystem that keeps the marshlands alive. No freshwater mixing with saltwater is the basis for the entire estuary systems. Without that, the photosynthesis doesn't happen in the freshwater flora, and the food chain starts there for the rest of the living things. >A decent percentage of the pumps in the city are broken for most of the year, Political problem with the city, not an environmental or engineering problem.

beerandt 5y ago

Oil companies are responsible for the canals, but that only allowed salt water to intrude quicker after rain or floods. But it doesn't change the overall regime of becoming salt dominant. It just means maybe 40 freshwater days a year instead of 50 at s given location, but it doesn't change what's growing there. Additionally, marsh biological productivity has been directly tied to shoreline length. So a marsh with proper salinity levels and more shoreline will actually create more food, for more wildlife. I do believe that they ought to be held to the terms of their permits, which is typically to backfill anything not actively maintained or abandoned. And to prevent erosion beyond the limits of the permits. But it doesn't seem that's part of the negotiation. >fresh water induction would indeed kill a large percentage of anything living in that induction area, False- the locations already getting freshwater (not sediment) diversions and the natural breaks in the levees are the only healthy parts of the marsh right now. Go look at them on Google Earth. Mardi gras pass and the other natural breaks are the only places naturally building land outside of the Atchafalaya Delta. For the new sediment diversions: It's not going to kill anything-it's just going to push the brackish water out and the salt water further, for a limited number of weeks per year. The wildlife will move with it, as it always has. The commercial guys don't want to burn more gas to get to saltwater, and the oyster guys (the real money and lobby power) don't want conditions to change at their existing water bottom leases. >and those living things are part of the ecosystem that keeps the marshlands alive. No freshwater mixing with saltwater is the basis for the entire estuary systems. Without that, the photosynthesis doesn't happen in the freshwater flora, and the food chain starts there for the rest of the living things. >A decent percentage of the pumps in the city are broken for most of the year, Political problem with the city, not an environmental or engineering problem.