Sabine National Wildlife Refuge Wetlands
Cameron, Louisiana, United States
Constructing a permanent dredged sediment pipeline for marsh creation. Located in the Chenier Plain ecosystem, the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is the largest coastal marsh refuge on the Gulf. However, saltwater intrusion during tropical storms and from the Calcasieu River Ship Channel has converted significant areas within the Sabine NWR from vegetated intermediate marsh into large areas of shallow brackish water. Wind-driven waves further erode the surrounding marshes. Therefore, through the beneficial placement of material from maintenance dredging of the Calcasieu River Ship Channel, the Sabine NWR Marsh Creation Project strategically re-creates brackish marsh habitat in large, open-water areas of the interior marsh to prevent wind-induced saltwater introduction and freshwater loss. In addition, the placement of dredged sediment nourishes adjacent marshes while reducing open-water fetch (the distance a wave can travel) and further erosion. This multiyear, multiphased project is a partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act of 1990 (CWPPRA). The many cycles of the project allowed land to be built quickly, creating critical wetland habitat in degraded areas.
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