Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Initiative

Public Law 109-234-Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006, BOEMRE received funds to support coastal restoration efforts in the Gulf Coasts states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. The funds are being used to investigate available sources of Federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) sand that can be used to restore portions of the coastal areas that were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Sand resources needed to repair the damaged coastlines and barrier islands of the four states is estimated to be from 250 to more than 300 million cubic yards; in Louisiana alone, more than 200 square miles of coastal land was lost due to the hurricanes.

Proposals were received from the resource management agencies of the 4 states through Grants.Gov. They were reviewed by the BOEMRE Leasing Division, the Gulf of Mexico Region and the USGS and final proposals were received and accepted. Criteria for funding allocation included damage in dollars to each state’s coastline, miles of coastline actually affected by the 2 storms, volumes of sand needed to restore each state’s coastline, need for Federal sand versus resources available in state waters, and amount of offshore sand evaluation work needed to be done versus amount of work completed to date.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, was provided funding to further investigate Tiger and Trinity shoal areas. The proposed work includes acquisition of over 1600 miles of high-resolution seismic data and 50 vibracores in the Trinity and Tiger Shoal area. Sand from the area will be used for restoration of March Island, Rockefeller Refuge, Paul Raney Refuge, and Russell Sage Refuge in the central part of the State.

The Texas General Land Office, was provided funding for sand studies offshore of the Galveston area. The proposed work will include re-processing and compilation of seismic data offshore of Jefferson and Brazoria Counties, the areas hit the hardest by Hurricane Rita. After this first phase of work, additional cores and seismic data will be acquired under subcontract with Louisiana State University. All of the data will then be analyzed and potential borrow areas delineated and sand volumes calculated.

The Alabama Geological Survey, was provided funding to build a sand database for its entire offshore area out to 25 miles. The proposed work will include entry of all offshore sand, environmental, and infrastructure data into a new GIS which will be placed in an interactive web site so the user can download custom-made maps, charts and graphs. Based on the data assembled and evaluated, potential borrow sites will be delineated and sand volumes calculated.

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, was provided funding to conduct geophysical data analysis, coring and sampling. The proposed work includes digitizing and compilation of seismic and vibracore data in the St. Bernard Shoals area east to the offshore extension of the Alabama-Mississippi line. The information will be preserved in a database and sand volumes will be calculated.