Breaux Act Newsflash - Black Bayou Project Contract Awarded

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NOAA FISHERIES AND LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES JOIN TO
RESTORE BLACK BAYOU FISH HABITAT

Federal and state officials announced the award of the Black Bayou
hydrological restoration project to Luhr Brothers Construction of
Alexandria, La. The restoration of Black Bayou is a fisheries habitat
project funded through the Breaux Act, a 10-year-old campaign to protect
and restore coastal Louisiana's natural resources. The restoration is a
joint project of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service
(NOAA fisheries) and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources
(DNR).

Black Bayou is a 25,530-acre wetland located in Cameron and Calcasieu
parishes. Bordered by the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), Sabine
Lake and Gum Cove Ridge, the project area was historically a
tidally-influenced brackish marsh. This wetland project is intended to
restore coastal marsh habitat and to slow the conversion of wetlands to
shallow open water.

"The goal for the Black Bayou restoration and our other Breaux Act
restoration projects is to protect and restore ecologically valuable
areas of coastal Louisiana for the benefit of fisheries, marine habitat
and other important resources," said Bill Hogarth, acting assistant
administrator. "NOAA fisheries is pleased that restoration activities
in Black Bayou are about to begin and we will be able to apply what
we're learning here to future projects."

Wave action from boats traveling the GIWW has eroded the bank in five
locations along the project boundary. The breaches have allowed salt
water into the project area resulting in much of the natural wetland
dying back and reverting to shallow open water area. The project will
limit saltwater intrusion into the surrounding marsh and canals from the
GIWW and Sabine River by re-establishing historic tidal influence
through Black Bayou.

An innovative component of the project will be the replacement of an
existing collapsed weir, or dam, with a new weir and the installation of
a "self-regulating tide gate". The self-regulating tide gate, not yet
used in Louisiana wetland projects, is expected to aid in restoring
natural tidal flushing of the marsh to benefit estuarine plants, fish,
shellfish, waterfowl and wildlife.

Louisiana Department of Natural Resources Secretary Jack Caldwell said,
"contractors will build a 22,600 foot rock dike on the southern spoil
bank of the GIWW with rock weirs across Black Bayou Cutoff Canal, Burton
Canal and Block's Creek. The weirs will have bays between them allowing
for tidal exchange, fish passage and boat navigation into Black Bayou."
He said the awarded bid amount of $2.97 million to Luhr Brothers came in
under design-costs estimates.

Caldwell noted that state legislators have strongly supported these
coastal efforts and that Reps. Ronnie Johns, Dan Flavin and Sens. Willie
Mount and Gerald Theunissen will join DNR project managers in about
three weeks to get a firsthand look at the project when construction
commences at the site.

The Black Bayou project is expected to protect the existing 25,530 acres
of wetlands and over the next two years NOAA fisheries' plans include
planting 55,000 wetland plants. For the 20-year life of the project, an
additional 1800 acres of open water is expected to convert back into
marsh across the project area.

Breaux Act projects are implemented through agreements between federal
project sponsors and DNR. Projects are selected and managed by the
Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act Task Force.
The Task Force is a partnership among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
the U.S. Department of Commerce's NOAA National Marine Fisheries
Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the USDA-Natural
Resources Conservation Service, the Department of the Interior's U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Governor's Office.

NOAA fisheries conducts scientific research and provides services and
products to support fisheries management, fisheries development, trade,
and industry assistance, enforcement, and protected species and habitat
conservation programs. For more information on NOAA's Coastal Wetlands
Planning Protection and Restoration Act projects, see
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/.

For more information, contact Gordon Helm at NOAA Fisheries (301)
713-2370, Phyllis Darensbourg at Louisiana DNR (225) 342- 8955, or visit
http://www.dnr.state.la.us.
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