Beneficial Uses of Dredged Material: Part of the Solution to Restoration of Louisiana's Coastal Wetlands

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (NOD) annually removes approximately 90 million cubic yards of dredged material from 10 Federal navigational channels throughout coastal Louisiana. Approximately 27 million cubic yards (25–35%) of this material is used for coastal wetland restoration projects. A total of about 16,800 acres of a variety of land habitats have been constructed by the NOD using dredged material since 1975. Approximately 10,000 of these acres are wetlands. As a result of the magnitude of coastal wetland loss in Louisiana, the NOD has come under increased pressure to use all of the dredged material for wetland creation/restoration. In addition to the Corps of Engineers' policy relative to a "Federal Standard", logistics; physical and chemical characteristics of the dredged material; channel dynamics and concern for safety of navigation; and land use conflicts limit the amount of restoration that can be accomplished with dredged material from Federal navigational channels.