How Louisiana Is Fighting To Restore Its Wetlands 20 Years After Katrina

The lessons that came out of Hurricane Katrina are manifold. The storm exposed issues that had been quietly eating away at New Orleans and the surrounding communities for generations. And while Hurricane Katrina’s towering storm surge was nature-made, the deaths of more than 1,000 people and the displacement of nearly 1 million have largely been attributed to the failure of environmental, political, societal, and structural systems created by humans.

After the Storm

In the 20 years after Katrina’s catastrophic landfall, much has been made of the improvements to the levees, floodwalls, and pumping stations designed to protect Gulf Coast communities from flooding. But there has also been a substantial effort to restore the swamps, coastal wetlands, and other natural features that once buffered the Mississippi River Delta from storms like Katrina—built-in protections misunderstood, underappreciated, and ultimately destroyed in favor of development.

“Katrina was a wake-up call,” says Emily Guidry Schatzel, senior communications manager of the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf program. “Before, wetlands were dismissed as ‘swamps’ standing in the way of progress. Now they’re widely recognized as life-saving infrastructure—just as critical as levees and floodwalls—and as part of the cultural and ecological fabric that makes coastal Louisiana unlike anywhere else.”

A Coast in Decline

Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost more than 2,000 square miles of land and coastal wetlands, an area roughly the size of Delaware. In the five decades leading up to Katrina in particular, an average of 34 square miles of South Louisiana land—mostly marsh—disappeared every year due to a combination of grazing by non-native nutria, activities by the oil and gas industry, and the building of levees and dams along the Mississippi River.

“Wetlands are our first line of defense,” says Schatzel. “They act like a giant speed bump and sponge—slowing waves, absorbing storm surge, and buying levees and people precious time.”

That is not hyperbole. And Schatzel, a South Louisiana native who lost her home in Hurricane Katrina, has an intimate understanding of what’s at stake.

According to Restore the Mississippi River Delta, one acre of wetlands has the capacity to hold up to 1 million gallons of water during a flood. On average, storm surges are reduced by one foot for every 2.7 miles of wetlands. The value of community protection for a one-mile strip of wetlands? Roughly $5.7 million.

“The loss of wetlands didn’t cause Katrina, but it stripped away the natural buffer that should have slowed the surge,” explains Schatzel. “Instead of being absorbed and dissipated, the water barreled toward New Orleans with full force, making the storm’s impact far more catastrophic.”

Restoring the Barrier

Now, Louisiana also has a Coastal Master Plan for protection and restoration that’s considered a global model for dealing with coastal climate resilience issues. Non-profit groups like the National Wildlife Federation, the Restore the Mississippi River Delta Coalition, and Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective have spent years pushing to increase restoration of the region’s vital ecosystems. Scientists hope to reconnect the Mississippi River to its delta through sediment diversions through projects like the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, which will “put the river back to work building land, just as it did for thousands of years,” says Schatzel.

While the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project was canceled by Louisiana state officials just last month, significant progress has been made in other areas. Environmental groups successfully lobbied for the closing of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in 2009, launched barrier island rebuilds, and restored thousands of acres of marsh. According to Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, these projects have benefited 67,000 acres of wetlands, with more than 71 miles of barrier islands and berms constructed since 2007.

Billions of dollars from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement are now being invested in coastal projects across the five Gulf Coast states to fuel barrier island restoration, marsh creation, and other large-scale efforts.

The Urgency Ahead

“But even with the best science and unprecedented funding, our coast is still in a race against time,” says Schatzel. “We’ve slowed land loss but haven’t stopped it, and climate change and sea level rise are raising the stakes. To truly protect Louisiana’s future, we need to move from projects measured in acres to projects measured in square miles.”

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Louisiana's combination of rising waters and sinking land gives it one of the highest rates of sea level rise on the planet.

“Saving coastal Louisiana isn’t just a local issue—it needs to be a national priority,” Schatzel urges. “Louisiana’s wetlands protect millions of residents, critical energy infrastructure, vital shipping routes, our national seafood supply, and a one-of-a-kind way of life. The truth is, the world needs more Louisiana—not less.”

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