Sediment management alternatives analysis in the Louisiana deltaic plain
Date
2023
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Abstract
While coastal communities around the world are under threat from rising sea levels, those of Southeast Louisiana are some of the most threatened. Including subsidence, the region could potentially see rates of net sea level rise up to ten times the global mean. There is no shortage of causes for how this situation has come to pass. A Systems Engineering solution needs to be multi-faceted, similar to how the problem was created:- Climate change: like any coastal area, the region has to make hard decisions on how to handle a changing climate, but those choices have significant ramifications for the entire U.S. population, as significant commerce passes through the regional ports in the form of agriculture, oil/gas, petrochemicals, and the fishing industry. - Engineered factors: by controlling the flow of the Mississippi River with the intent of flood protection through the use of levees, floodwalls, and spillways, humans have inhibited the natural processes that could rebuild the wetlands and natural protection barriers. - River navigation: similarly, the locks and dams that allow maritime traffic have trapped the sediment that historically would have flowed down to the delta and built more land buffers against the sea. - Industrial infrastructure: with thousands of miles of navigation channels and pipelines, the wetlands have been cut up into non-natural bodies of water, allowing hurricanes and saltwater intrusion unabated access to delicate ecosystems. - Environmental damage: over 100 years of industrial development, combined with numerous environmental disasters, has compromised the health of the ecosystem. - Invasive species: whether intentionally introduced or not, non-native species, both flora and fauna alike, have wreaked havoc on native populations and weakened deltaic processes. - Stakeholder coordination: with dozens of local, state, and federal government agencies and nonprofit organizations, it is nearly impossible to make everyone happy. - Limited resources: there is a funding gap between the budget needed to implement a successful strategy and what is expected to be available if the status quo is maintained. While there are multiple methods employed to improve coastal resilience, a core strategy as defined by Louisiana's 2023 Coastal Master Plan is the introduction of sediment. The plan suggests two main alternatives of sediment management, that of the Major Diversions and Dredged Sediment. In this work, these two traditional alternatives are considered, and a new proposed approach is introduced, that of Micro Diversions, a concept developed in prior work by the author. All three approaches are described, analyzed, modeled, and compared against each other to determine which would be the most cost effective and appropriate for investment by coastal stakeholders. The compared metric is Cost Benefit over a 50-year time horizon, calculated using the Life Cycle Cost and Net Benefit variables from each alternative. Inherent in the Systems Engineering approach is that the cost variables consider the time value of money. The Major Diversion variables were taken from the stated goals in the Master Plan. The Dredged Sediment variables were forecasted from historical trends on recently completed and/or approved projects. The Micro Diversion variables were formulated from hydrologic software modeling of a limited system and expanded to compare in size to the other alternatives. At a Cost Benefit of $61,773 per acre, the Major Diversion alternative was evaluated to be a better investment than Dredged Sediment or Micro Diversions ($67,300 and $88,206 respectively). Because coastal conditions can change over time, and that the inputs to these alternatives can likewise change, it is suggested to view solutions with a systems-level approach, with the potential to implement complementary alternatives.
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Subject
cost benefit analysis
sediment management alternatives
coastal restoration
systems engineering
life cycle cost