Rebirthing of a Louisiana bayou

Ben Malbrough, executive director of the Bayou Lafourche (La.) Fresh Water District, is carrying on efforts to fix a century-old mistake that has caused a slow disaster that has decimated coastal wetlands south of Houma; wiped out farms; threatened drinking water; and turned a scenic waterway into a salty, and often. toxic trickle. “We’re losing land faster than anywhere else in the world,” Malbrough told NOLA.com. One reason is a 1903 temporary dam at Donaldsonville that has been blocking the 106-mile freshwater flow from the Mississippi River to Barataria and Terrebonne bays. The dam was supposed to be a temporary fix, but was never replaced with a lock system that would have allowed water and boats to pass. When the freshwater-flows stopped, salt water moved and began killing the marsh. Bayou Lafourche became a stagnant drainage ditch. “After that, everybody turned their backs on it. But that’s beginning to change. Malbrough is leading a push to complete a series of restoration and water quality projects that’ll cost more than $180M. The projects are breathing new life into the bayou. A major project will be a $77M pump station planned at the Donaldsonville dam site. It’s projected to triple the river’s flow into the bayou that’ll revive marshes and barrier islands that protect south Louisiana. The freshwater flow will benefit 10,000 salty and eroding acres, according to Bren Haase, executive director of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which has supplied major funding for the projects. Source: (NOLA.com 06/06/21) (This is the first of two articles on Bayou Lafourche and plans to use it to rebuild parts of the Louisiana coast. Check back with nola.com for Part 2.) Bayou Rebirth: Fixing a century-old mistake that robbed Louisiana of land and a scenic waterway | Environment | nola.com