Coastal Louisiana Drowning In Gulf - Washington Post

[hatrack]

Encroaching Salt Water Is Threatening the State's Economy and Homes
By Lee Hockstader
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 13, 2003; Page A01

DULAC, LA. -- "Donald Bourg is not an old man, but he has borne witness to a millennial event. He has watched the earth -- hundreds of square miles of stunningly rich Lousiana land -- disappear before his eyes.

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The territory around Bourg's tiny hamlet of Dulac, in the ragged southern sole of Louisiana's boot, is in the heart of a vast disappearing act. Largely unnoticed until recently, nearly 2,000 square miles of southern Lousiana simply vanished in the last two-thirds of the 20th century -- the equivalent of losing Delaware, Baltimore and Washington combined. Each year, 25 to 30 square miles of marsh and dry ground sink into the gulf -- in effect, a football field every half hour. And according to recent projections, an additional 700 to 900 square miles will be swamped by 2050 unless a major drive is mounted to contain the loss.

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Few dispute that this is an environmental calamity, but for years state officials brushed it off as a fringe cause. No longer: Most of Lousiana's industrial economy is on the coast, and much of it is at risk. Over the last several years, as satellite imagery and computer projections have driven home the point, the state's bankers, oil executives, engineers and governor have awakened to the possibility of an economic disaster of epic proportions.

Lousiana's sinking coast has endangered not only the single greatest source of shrimp, oysters and other seafood outside Alaska, but also major supplies of oil and natural gas and the only deep-sea offloading terminal for supertankers in the United States. Water supplies are in peril; oil and gas lines are exposed. Entire coastal towns are sinking, and New Orleans is threatened as never before. And as the coast loses its protective buffer, inland areas are increasingly vulnerable to hurricanes, even minor ones.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48169-2003Jul12.html

Long, fascinating article.

[ramapo]

1. There are consequences to what we do

There are a number of intersecting causes of what's happening in Lousisiana, all of them caused by humans.

As the article states, this has been known for years. Typically it has been ignored until the consequences become serious and widespread.

This problem was covered in-depth in a book I read a couple of years ago. I'm coming up short on the title. Anyway, it provided a vivid description of the severe the effects of the sinking land.

[hatrack]

2. Was it "Holding Back The Sea"?

Can't remember the author, but it's a great book on the topic.

From canals to levees to channelization to dams to nutria (!), if it could be done to screw up the delta, we've done it.

[ramapo]

3. Ocean's End is the book

Colin Woodard is the author. There's a chapter on the Louisiana problem. Not a happy book as it covers everything from overfishing to the new "dead" seas in Europe to the coral reef dieoff.

I'm going to look for Holding Back the Sea. I remember hearing about it but don't think I've read it.

I'm a glutton for punishment...

[Terran]

4. hatrack

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