Using Wetlands As a Defense Against Hurricanes

Wetlands may be the greatest protection that the Mississippi’s Coast has from hurricanes. MPB’s Phoebe Judge reports on what is being done to preserve them.

It is estimated that about half of Mississippi’s coastal wetlands have been lost in the last hundred years. On top of that the footprint of the barrier islands off the coast, which serve as a major buffer for hurricanes and storms, was reduced by about 30% by Hurricane Katrina. Bill Walker, Executive director of Mississippi’s Department of Marine Resources, says as a result of those losses the coasts defenses are down,

“I think you look at the history the frequency and severity of hurricanes and tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico has been increasing over the years and there is no reason to assume that that will change. So we have to be prepared and we are not right now.”

One of the largest sections of preserved coastal wetlands in the state lies in the Grand Bay Reserve. Dave Rupple is standing in the middle of a wetland at the Grand Bay Reserve in the far southeastern corner of the state,

“If we were to dig a hole in the ground here before you could dig two shovel full’s, the hole would be filled with water.”

Rupple is the manager of the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, which along with the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge consists of 25,000 acres of preserved land, many of which are wetlands. There is research conducted on reserve lands, but for the most part the reserve sits untouched, and that may serve its greatest purpose. Coastal wetlands serve two main purposes. First, they act as a natural filtration device for waters flowing from the north into the Gulf of Mexico. Bill Walker,

“They are the interface between fresh water and salt water and serve to filter that fresh water, and cleanse that fresh water before it enters the saline environment of the Gulf.”

The filtration process can have dramatic effects on water quality and the health of fish and shellfish population in the Gulf. But an even greater value of the wetlands may be the benefits they provide during hurricanes and storms. Judy Steckler is the Executive director of the land trust for the Mississippi plain,

“The wetlands that are along the coast line serve as a buffer. The wetlands being able to be a holding area for the water so it not only slows down the water, but it will also absorb and hold some during the storms surge.”

One of the main ways the state is trying to get some wetlands back is through the Coastal Preserves Program. Started 15 years ago, the program identified about 75,000 acres of coastal lands which they hoped to acquire; there are about 50,000 acres in the program today. Jeff Clark is the manager of the Coastal Preserves Program,

“And the goal is to keep these lands in as natural a state as possible so that we can maintain those important functions of storm protection habitat for wildlife and fisheries and so on.”

The lands that are bought through the program are owned by the State, managed by the Secretary of State’s office and purchased using funds partially from the sale and lease of land to casinos. Acquiring wetlands may be the most cost effective means of hurricane protection says Mike Murphy with the Nature Conservancy,

“You know you don’t run into the costs of building something, of maintaining something, of having something fail like it did in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. There is no question that using these natural lands, natural wetlands, natural barrier islands, as a way of protecting your infrastructure is much more cost effective than anything we can build.”

Along with the continuing efforts of the Coastal Preserve Program there are a number of other coastal restoration projects coming on line. Including millions of dollars for coastal wetland preservation and restoration through the CIAP program, and the Army Corps of Engineers recommendation of a 1.2 billion dollar plan for coastal recovery from Hurricane Katrina.