River Spillway Water to Aid Marsh Restoration

Just found this and wonder why some genius didn't think of this long ago.

Using the Bonnet Carré Spillway flood-control structure for coastal marsh restoration has been a topic of discussion for years, but now the first steps are being taken to put that water to use.
The structure acts as an overflow valve during specific high-water conditions on the Mississippi River but on average, the structure has only been opened once every eight years, said Steve Mathies, executive director of the state Office of Coastal Restoration and Protection.
The spillway was last opened in 2008 and before that, 1997.
However, the structure isn’t watertight, Mathies told the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on Wednesday.
Every second, an average of 4,000 cubic feet of water flows through the structure into the spillway. For about a year, the Pontchartrain Levee District has been working on a feasibility plan to take some of that water and sediment and pump it into the LaBranche wetlands south of the spillway.
“It seems like a very simple solution,” Mathies said.
Using the water that now flows through the structure simplifies things, he said, since having the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers open the structure, even slightly, for something other than flood control might require congressional action.
It would be the first step in using the spillway for coastal restoration purposes and is relatively simple, said Steve Wilson, president of the Pontchartrain Levee District.
No new ditches would need to be dug, and there’s already a pump station at the site.

The rest is HERE.

H/T Editilla

More later.
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