file under:
Environment, Federal Government, Government, North America, United States, Water
Worth the Effort
Restoring Our Valuable Ecosystems
Improve water quality, revive habitats, meet water supply demands and preserve wetlands … ecosystem restoration is driven by a variety of factors. Typically, multiple stakeholders are invested in meeting these objectives, including regulatory agencies, community interests and species protection groups.
CDM Smith is supporting two massive restoration projects—the diversion of 3,000 cubic feet per second of freshwater to restore subsiding coastal wetlands, and the world's biggest dam removal project. Both involve complex challenges, competing demands and the need for technical prowess.
Nothing To Compromise
In Louisiana, USA, Mississippi River flood control levees have stopped the periodic pulse of freshwater needed in a 36-square-mile area of the Blind River and Maurepas Swamp. Reintroducing water from the Mississippi River to this region—almost wholly located within the Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Management area—will rebuild the wetlands while improving water quality, biological productivity, and vitality of bald cypress and tupelo trees.
The Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (LCPRA) retained CDM Smith to support the freshwater diversion by conducting a feasibility study, preliminary design and an environmental impact statement. “This program requires a balance between the flood control program and the necessary restoration. We can’t compromise the existing levee system,” explains Michael Schmidt, CDM Smith vice president.
The Blind River freshwater diversion project will reintroduce freshwater, sediment and nutrients to the Maurepas Swamp and Blind River to promote water distribution and improve water quality.In addition to identifying a comprehensive approach to restoring hydrology, swamp forest regeneration and water quality while maintaining flood control, the work had to comply with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers guidelines and National Environmental Policy Act requirements. Close coordination with multiple wildlife and fishery services was necessary to protect resources, habitats, and threatened and endangered species.
Innovation in Restoration
To meet project objectives, the team addressed three major components—diversion, transmission and distribution facilities—to move the water from the Mississippi River across the levees, from the levees to the swamp area, and finally discharge it throughout the swamp.
“Using an innovative, sustainable approach was the key to this project,” says Schmidt. “We proposed a dual use system for distribution and flood control. Inflatable, solar-powered dams at the end of the existing flood control systems will be used to redistribute water for the wetlands when flooding is not an issue.” With funding limited, creative ways to save money were extremely important. Making use of the existing system will save between one-third and one-fourth of the total project cost.
According to Jammie Favorite, LCPRA Coastal Resources scientist manager, "The project delivery team, comprising several multidisciplinary agencies, worked efficiently on an accelerated schedule. The tentatively selected plan for the Small Diversion at Convent Blind River project is under the project cost cap and is well received by stakeholders, recreational organizations and the residents of
St. James Parish."
Desperate Times
The Klamath River, straddling California and Oregon, USA, was once one of the country’s largest salmon- and steelhead-producing rivers. But in 2002, the river suffered a large die-off of Chinook salmon. An estimated 35,000 migrating fish died from poor water quality and disease, due primarily to conditions created by large dams and reservoirs. While the federal government quickly responded to the tragedy by redirecting important agricultural water to the fisheries—affecting a $600-million-per-year farm industry—a permanent solution was clearly necessary.
A mussel is measured in the Klamath River as part of water quality field testing.Tribes, fishermen and farmers all rely on the Klamath Basin’s resources, making the situation’s cultural and economic impacts significant. “We wanted to support the Bureau of Reclamation, who was faced with reaching consensus among multiple competing interests. We hosted a conflict resolution conference and facilitated stakeholder meetings to develop recovery and restoration strategies for the basin,” notes Brian Crook, CDM Smith vice president. “By using decision science and economics, we assisted decision makers with understanding the issues and identifying their options.”
Risks, Rewards and Resolution
Discussions turned to the removal of four hydroelectric dams to restore the river basin and open access to 300 miles of salmon spawning habitat currently blocked by the dams. CDM Smith is preparing an environmental impact statement/environmental impact report for the Bureau of Reclamation that will evaluate dam removal alternatives. The report will consider the effects of implementing two agreements—the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement (KHSA) and the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA)—aimed at restoring the river. We are also developing a report for the Secretary of the Interior that will detail if dam removal would advance the restoration of the salmonid fisheries and affect public interests.
Achieving common ground is a balancing act resting on decades of conflict over basin water allocation between farms and fisheries—a relationship made even more complex by the rights of six Native American tribes who have relied on the rivers’ resources for thousands of years. “The goals of the KHSA and KBRA are to provide better water and habitat for fisheries and remove water delivery uncertainty to farms during droughts,” says Ben Swann, CDM Smith vice president. “Achieving these goals will create hope for ending decades of water resource conflict and bringing the communities together.”
