Coastal Restoration

The coastal waterbodies in and around the City of New Orleans have and still do contribute enormously to the recreation, seafood and shipping economies the City has benefited from for hundreds of years. Other than the economic bounty of our coast, its marshes, swamps, land-bridges and barrier islands serve the major functions of protecting the City from storm surge and relative sea level rise that is causing wetland loss at a staggering rate. Exacerbating this loss is the impacts due to climate change. As greenhouse gas emissions increase, the Earth’s temperature rises causing tropical weather systems to become more frequent and stronger which places New Orleans in the precarious position to experience extreme hazardous conditions.

ORS is currently working with the La. Coastal Restoration Authority on the Irish Bayou Living Shoreline project to help protect New Orleans East from storm surge. ORS and its partners are developing a project plan for revitalizing the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle that caused the decimation of the Lower 9th Ward from Hurricane Katrina. Our partners include the Water Institute of the Gulf, the National Wildlife Federation, the Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development and Nunez Community College.

There are approximately nine other projects that need to be constructed in the Greater New Orleans Region. These projects are contained in the US Army Corps of Engineer’s Mississippi River Gulf Outlet Ecosystem Restoration Plan. Each one of these projects is crucial to creating a resilient and sustainable New Orleans. ORS will continue to coordinate with its partners and advocate for the funding of this over-arching restoration plan.