adequate statutory authority. Monitor- 

 ing at the State and local level is also 

 hampered by insufficient personnel 

 (Craig and Day 1981). Existing water 

 quality data indicate widespread fecal 

 coliform violations of the State 

 criteria, the EPA criteria for aquatic 

 life, and the USACE no-discharge cri- 

 teria in Barataria Bay, the Gulf Intra- 

 coastal Waterway below Algiers, Lake 

 Cataouatche, Lake Salvador, Lac des 

 Allemands, and Bayou Lafourche (USACE 

 1980). 



Prospects for the Basin 



Significant economic growth has 

 been projected for the Barataria basin 

 uplands over the next 10 to 20 years 

 (Hopkinson 1978), which will be re- 

 flected in changes in land use. By 

 1995, industrial land will increase by 

 4.3 times, urban and suburban land by 

 2.2 times, and forest and agriculture 

 habitats will decrease by 42% and 20%, 

 respectively. It is also estimated that 

 almost 10,000 ha (24,700 acres) of wet- 

 lands will be "reclaimed" for various 

 purposes (Hopkinson 1978). 



These changes will exert severe 

 environmental pressures on the waters 

 and wetlands. Upland runoff will 

 increase as more and more land is paved. 

 Runoff to the upper basin will increase 

 significantly between 1975 and 1995 

 (Hopkinson and Day 1980a). Unless 

 mitigative actions are taken to lessen 

 these stresses, there will be signifi- 

 cant increase in environmental degrada- 

 tion by the end of the century. 



The loading of nutrients from up- 

 land runoff has the potential for 

 increasing the degree of eutrophication 

 in the basin. Hopkinson and Day (1980b) 

 estimated that nitrogen loading to Lac 

 des Allemands will increase by 25% by 

 1995. Craig and Day (1977) predicted 

 that if projected development does take 

 place, much of the lower basin waters 

 will be eutrophic by the end of this 

 century. This change would cause the 

 loss of the the area as a nursery ground 

 for most of the fishery species that are 

 currently harvested (Figure 50). Water 

 bodies most seriously threatened now 



include Lake Salvador, Bayou Perot, 

 Bayou Barataria, and the Barataria Bay 

 Waterway. 



Studies have shown that if upland 

 runoff flows through emergent wetlands 

 rather than directly into water bodies, 

 the nutrient levels are significantly 

 reduced. Kemp and Day (1981) studied 

 the effect of overland flow of agricul- 

 tural runoff through a swamp forest 

 surrounding Lac des Allemands. Total 

 phosphorus and total nitrogen were 

 reduced by 41% and 26%, respectively, in 

 the swamp runoff water. Hopkinson and 

 Day (1980b) estimated that if overland 

 flow were reintroduced in the upper 

 basin, total nutrient loading to Lac des 

 Allemands could be reduced by 23% for 

 inorganic N, and 28% for P, despite 

 increasing upland runoff. An overland 

 flow system would also enhance wetland 

 productivity because of the effect of 

 added nutrients. Flooding problems 

 would also be reduced as the backpres- 

 sure on runoff of precipitation were 

 eased . 



Baumann (1980) showed that deposi- 

 tion is not keeping pace with subsidence 

 in the salt marshes of the basin. He 

 estimated that the salt marshes in the 

 basin would disappear in about 70 years. 

 Deterioration of inactive delta wetlands 

 is a natural process, and nothing can 

 completely arrest wetland loss. Several 

 approaches have been suggested to de- 

 crease the rate of loss. Controlled 

 diversions of the lower Mississippi 

 River could be used to create small 

 subdeltas (Gagliano et al. 1981). Pro- 

 hibition of new canal construction and 

 backfilling of existing canals have also 

 been suggested as ways of lessening 

 future marsh losses (see SPECIFIC 

 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MDPR MANAGEMENT). 



There are approximately 100,000 ha 

 (247,000 acres) of swamp forest in the 

 upper Barataria basin. For the first 

 time in many years, significant numbers 

 of cypress trees are now being har- 

 vested. The timber is being selectively 

 cut and then removed by helicopter, with 

 relatively minor environmental distur- 

 bance. It is not known whether regrowth 

 will occur, because cypress seeds need 



120 



