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    Saturday, 30-Oct-2004 05:24:37 EDT

Adversity Fosters Louisiana Science Partnerships

By Gaye Farris

Wetland Loss

It seems to be true that in the face of great adversity, people pull together. This trait of human nature is certainly evident among Louisiana scientists facing the enormous challenge of the state's eroding coastal wetlands and barrier islands. This ecosystem, which is on the verge of collapse, has been vanishing into the Gulf of Mexico at an average rate of 34 square miles a year for the last 50 years.

Since 1932, 1.22 million acres of coastal land have been lost, and as much as another half million more acres may disappear in the next 50 years if nothing is done; collectively, this loss exceeds the size of the state of Delaware plus the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, MD, metropolitan areas. If nothing is done about coastal and wetland loss, the results will be staggering in terms of wildlife, the economy, the nation's oil and gas infrastructure including its strategic reserves, and human property and safety. These losses will have a national, not just regional, impact. The coastal area supports the largest commercial fishery in the lower 48 States, including 37 percent of the U.S. oyster harvest and 45 percent of shrimp harvest, and Louisiana accounts for 28 percent of the Nation's oil production and 26 percent of the Nation's natural gas production.

"If nothing further is done to reverse or control the current trend, by the year 2050 a third of the entire coast of Louisiana may be gone," said Jimmy Johnston, Louisiana Coastal Ecosystems Science Coordinator and Spatial Analysis Director, USGS National Wetlands Research Center.

Scientists have studied such powerful forces as hurricanes that quickly change coastal areas as well as seemingly subtle but relentless processes as natural subsidence and sea-level rise. They have also assessed human changes to the landscape--levees, navigation canals, and extraction of oil and gas--originally meant for the good of society but having unintended consequences for the coast.

Partnerships

Against this background of enormous environmental and societal issues, a sense of dedicated partnership has emerged among scientists in Federal and State agencies, universities, and non-governmental organizations. They not only know the problems but also know each other well. Many of them have worked together in partnership for more than 20 years. "Partnerships have enabled us to share funding and expertise to maximize our results," said Jack Kindinger, deputy director of the USGS Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies.

Called upon to provide objective science, the USGS Biological, Geological, Geography, and Water disciplines from across the country all work closely together to address coastal land loss issues. USGS offices directly involved are the National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA; Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies, St. Petersburg, FL; Science Center for Coastal and Marine Geology, Woods Hole, MA; National Mapping Liaison office, Lafayette, LA; EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD; Mid-Continent Mapping Center, Rolla, MO; and the Louisiana Water District, Baton Rouge, LA.

In turn, USGS further partners with the Louisiana Departments of Natural Resources and Wildlife and Fisheries and the Governor's Office; U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Minerals Management Service; U.S. Department of the Army's Corps of Engineers; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service; and the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Marine Fisheries Service.

Additionally, the USGS cooperates on joint research and management initiatives with a strong network of scientists from various universities including Louisiana State University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of New Orleans, Tulane University, University of South Florida, and Eckerd College, among others.

This cooperation extends to education, public awareness, and information transfer in working with groups like the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

Programs

These partnerships involve scientific, management, and engineering activities on projects and studies conducted under large coastal efforts such as the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, Water Resources Development Act and the State of Louisiana Coastal Restoration and Management Programs. Specifically, the USGS is working with its partners to integrate monitoring, modeling and research activities.

Other studies include the Mississippi River Tributaries Study, Louisiana Coast 2050 Plan, Barrier Island and Marsh Creation Feasibility Studies, Atchafalaya Basin Projects, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Monitoring, Mississippi River Basin National Stream Quality Account Network, and the Statewide Stream-Gaging Network.

Most recently, USGS has been involved in the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Comprehensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study. Looking to the future, USGS will help implement the following tasks:

  • Develop a restoration science program
  • Use spatial analysis for habitat monitoring, mapping, and predicting future trends
  • Collect real-time hydrological and meteorological data
  • Survey water quality, discharge, flow, and suspended sediment
  • Determine status and trends of water quality and sea-level rise
  • Use LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology to survey barrier islands
  • Estimate coastal subsidence
  • Identify offshore sediment supplies for barrier island restoration
  • Support public outreach
  • Develop digital data and information management systems.

USGS scientists expect to continue in their partnership work. Or, as Charles Demas, Louisiana District Chief Hydrologist, says, "The magnitude of the coastal and wetland loss in Louisiana requires that all the agencies work together if we are to be successful in solving this problem."

  U.S. Department of the Interior

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