A shell midden in the LCA Caillou Lake Land Bridge Study area provides some protection to the marshes of the land bridge
In 2002, the State of Louisiana and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA), LA – Ecosystem Restoration: Comprehensive Coastwide Ecosystem Restoration Study to implement coastal restoration strategies outlined in the 1998 Coast 2050 report. The LCA Program was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act in November 2007 (WRDA 2007) and included the Stabilize Gulf Shoreline at Point Au Fer Island and Maintain Land Bridge between Caillou Lake and Gulf of Mexico studies.
BEM Systems, Inc., (BEM) was tasked by the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) to research and write the decision documents (feasibility reports) and NEPA compliance documents for both projects. These feasibility reports will be used to support the USACE Chief of Engineers Report, which is required for construction appropriation.
The analysis included scoping, plan formulation, alternatives development, benefits analysis, cost effectiveness analysis, bathymetric surveys, marine and terrestrial cultural resources surveys, wave climate and salinity modeling, and a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment for hazardous, toxic and radioactive wave (HTRW) issues. BEM also prepared the Section 404(b)(1) Clean Water Act permit, the Coastal Zone Management Act consistency determination, a biological assessment to support a NOAA Fisheries Biological Opinion, and other relevant permit applications.
