Those hurdles prompted the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group to sign a resolution reducing the project’s authorized budget from $2.26 billion to $618.52 million—the amount already disbursed—before starting formal close-out activities. The agency stated that unused funds would be redistributed through the Deepwater Horizon restoration planning process.

Momentum stalled on April 26 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended its Clean Water Act Section 404 permit “pending further review,” according to the agency. The suspension letter cited concerns over local fisheries, sediment toxicity and flood‑risk impacts. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, amplifying those concerns, took to social media that day and faulted his Democratic predecessor, John Bel Edwards, alleging malfeasance in obtaining the permit.

“Mid Barataria project would have cost taxpayers over $50 million a year in dredging, increased the hypoxia-destroying (sic) our fishing around our great jewel of Grand Isle and impact the drinking water of Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and Orleans parishes,” Landry wrote.

The Mid-Barataria scheme—approved under the coastal agency's 2023 Final Phase II Restoration Plan 3.2—had planned to divert as much as 75,000 cubic ft of sediment‑laden river water per second to an intake complex at Mississippi River Mile 60.7 near Ironton, Plaquemines Parish. 

The Corps devised various plans ranging from 50,000 to 150,000 cfs with optional marsh‑terracing outfalls that would restore approximately 20 sq miles (roughly 12,800 acres) of marsh and wetlands over the next 50 years.

Under the NEPA process, the Corps released a draft Environmental Impact Statement on March 5, 2021, held public scoping meetings April 6–8, 2021, and published its final EIS and restoration plan on Sept. 23, 2022. A Record of Decision and federal permit followed on Dec. 19, 2022, clearing the way for construction, which began in August 2023. 

By January 2024, resistance began mounting after Jurisich Oysters LLC, AmeriPure Processing Inc. and the International Marine Mammal Project filed suit in federal court, alleging the Corps’ environmental review violated NEPA and the Endangered Species Act.

“[T]he project would have ‘serious, permanent, adverse impacts,’ including impacts on water quality, bottlenose dolphin populations, commercially important fisheries and human health,” plaintiffs asserted in a summary of the complaint.

A letter from the Army Corps to coastal protection agency Chairman Gordon Dove, dated April 25, 2025, confirmed Landry’s claims. He wrote that, during the permit review, the Edwards administration withheld information essential for regulators to evaluate environmental impacts. Additionally, the Corps stated that the state failed to ensure local flood insurance compliance or warrant that it had the financial wherewithal for maintenance dredging.

The coastal agency announced it will now redirect resources to the long‑planned Louisiana Coastal Area Medium Diversion Myrtle Grove with Dedicated Dredging project. Although specifications are under review, Myrtle Grove is expected to have a smaller diversion footprint, combined with targeted dredging, to enhance sediment delivery at a lower cost.

Authorized under the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, with a significantly smaller price tag of $278.3 million—split between the Corps and the coastal agency—the project is situated near Myrtle Grove on the west bank of the river and spans Plaquemines, Jefferson and Lafourche parishes.  

The New Plan

The Medium Diversion at Myrtle Grove will convey between 2,500 cfs and 15,000 cfs of sediment-laden Mississippi River water through a compact intake structure at River Mile 58.5, routing flows via a 12-mile dredged-material pipeline into the Barataria Basin.  

According to Corps documents, hydraulic modeling from the 90% design phase predicts annual land‑building rates of up to 200 acres and long‑term maintenance of about 33,880 marsh acres over 50 years, supplementing existing fresh‑to‑brackish wetlands.

Engineers evaluated flow alternatives up to 250,000 cfs; higher-capacity options were eliminated due to escalating costs, environmental impacts and diminishing sediment-retention efficiency.

The Corps anticipates obtaining final Clean Water Act permits by mid-2026, with field construction scheduled to begin in late 2026 and commissioning targeted for 2029.

Monitoring stations specified in the design will track elevation gain, vegetation colonization and water-quality parameters. Monthly reporting to the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group includes performance indicators such as acres restored, sediment deposition volumes and gate-operation logs.

“After years of planning and navigating significant legal and permitting challenges, we’ve made the difficult decision to terminate the Mid‑Barataria project,” Dove said in the coastal agency’s announcement. “Our commitment to coastal restoration has not wavered. We are now focused on advancing the Myrtle Grove project, which we believe will deliver similar benefits to rebuild and sustain our coast.”

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