Breton Island Restoration Project

Breton Island is the southernmost island in the Chandeleur Island barrier system located off the southeastern Louisiana coast. It is subject to severe damage from tropical storms and hurricanes. Prior to Hurricane Georges in 1998, Breton Island consisted of about 180 acres. After Hurricane Georges, the island consisted of about 125 acres with the mid-island area having been eroded away. During a 1999 maintenance dredging event of the nearby Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO) navigational channel, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (NOD) placed shoal material removed from the MRGO directly on the northern portion of Breton Island and at an adjacent sacrificial feeder berm site to repair storm- and hurricane-related damage. Three breaches in the northern portion of the island were plugged by direct placement of dredged material. A fourth breach was filled by material transported from the feeder berm site by wave action. The restoration project was authorized and funded pursuant to Section 204 of the Water Resources and Development Act of 1992 with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources acting as the non-Federal cost sharing partner.