Louisiana Estuary
Planning Underway

Estuaries are important ecosystems, where fresh water drained from the land mixes with ocean or gulf salt water in swamps, marshes, lakes, and bays. In this transition zone from fresh to salt water, plants and animals thrive, and fish and shellfish spawn.

The four-million-acre Barataria-Terrebonne estuarine system holds several distinctions; it is America's greatest nursery for shellfish, a national leader in oil production, and one of the developed world's most prolific waterfowl habitats.

But, as is so often the case in our increasingly complex times, environmental problems pose a threat to the estuary. Pollution, shellfish contamination, coastal erosion, and habitat loss are among the very real concerns that must be dealt with.

In 1991, the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuary was accepted into the National Estuary Program, which provides U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding to states that make a long-term

The Barataria-Terrebonne estuarine system is America's greatest nursery for shellfish."

commitment to restore and protect an estuary. This designation as a "unique, nationally significant" estuary area was given after DEQ administrators prepared and submitted a nomination document demonstrating the importance of the Barataria and Terrebonne basins and describing the priority problems that would be addressed through the national program.

Once accepted, the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) was given a five-year life span, funded 75 percent by EPA and 25 percent by the state's Coastal Wetlands Trust Fund, managed by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Combined, these two sources contribute approximately $1.3 million a year to the program.

Sunset highlights the natural beauty of the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuary.