East Grand Lake Project
A Historical Moment for the Atchafalaya Basin
Basin Advocates Stop the East Grand Lake Project
(Louisiana) – On Tuesday, March 31, 2026, Judge Jackson of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana issued a favorable judgment to Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, LCPA – West, Healthy Gulf, and Sierra Club Delta Chapter in the groups' lawsuit challenging the Army Corps permit for the East Grand Lake Project, vacating and enjoining the permit. This decision is a monumental victory for the Basin that marks a successful end to a more than 15 year fight to stop the East Grand Lake Project from destroying and degrading wetlands and flood capacity.
“By doing sediment diversion projects under the guise of water quality, the State is destroying the future of south-central Louisiana. The massive loss of flood capacity of the Basin and Morganza Spillway will spell doom for all of us,” said Dean Wilson, executive director of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper. Dean said he is “very proud of all the parishes that stood up to support this lawsuit in the face of political pressures.”
“Winning this lawsuit is a huge win for the fishermen, and stopping the East Grand Lake Project will save the Basin from filling in,” said President of LCPA-West Avery Theriot. “They need to stop all the projects in the Basin that are similar. The fishermen have been fighting these projects for almost 30 years and our voices are finally heard.”
The EGL Project was coined a “swamp enhancement project,” but sound science shows that the project would lead to increased sedimentation in the area. If not for this lawsuit, the project would have converted productive and vital swamp into bottomland hardwood forest by introducing sediment-laden river water and physically dispersing dredged sediment in the area. This would have reduced the flood capacity of the Basin and pushed us further toward the brink of disaster.
“The Atchafalaya Basin is an international treasure and provides for the communities, fishermen, and critters that live within its river of trees,” said Matt Rota, Senior Policy Director for Healthy Gulf. “This ruling helps us preserve this incredible area. Unlike many coastal areas of Louisiana, the Atchafalaya does not need more sediment, as it fills in vital habitat and fishing areas. It is our hope that we can continue to reduce and reverse this sedimentation and ensure that the Atchafalya continues to serve its many functions, including flood protection, wildlife habitat, and fertile fishing grounds. This natural and cultural resource must be protected, and this decision is another step in that direction.”
After decades of manipulation through flood control activities and oil and gas exploration activities, the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System’s natural water flow has been severely altered. In its decision vacating the EGL Permit, the Court in our case emphasized that “Sedimentation is a serious problem in the Basin. According to the Corps’ 1982 [study on the Basin], the ‘sedimentation is destroying wetlands and open water bodies within the floodway, and this not only reduces aquatic productivity, but lowers esthetic values and compounds the loss of cultural resource sites.’” In its decision and various rulings leading up to the judgment, the Court recognized that the East Grand Lake project design is similar to the Buffalo Cove and Beau Bayou projects that took place in the Basin and resulted in disastrous sedimentation that rendered much of those project areas inaccessible. Acknowledging the similarities, the Court ruled that the Corps could not simply take CPRA’s word that EGL would not produce the same results as these two failed projects that came before.
“This has truly been a long time coming. Over the years, chapter chairs have been a part of this fight and I am grateful to now be the chair that gets to see the battle’s end and to see the next phase of the restoration of the Basin,” Dr. Angelle Bradford Rosenberg of Sierra Club Delta Chapter.
“It’s an enormous relief that the Court recognized the serious violations of federal law that affected the defective dredge-and-fill permit issued by the Army Corps for the EGL project, which threatened the sustainability and health of the Atchafalaya Basin’s wetlands and the communities who live and earn a living there,” said Daniel E. Estrin, General Counsel and Legal Director for Waterkeeper Alliance. “We hope the state will now abandon this dangerous project, but if it proceeds, we are prepared to continue to hold the state and federal governments accountable for any future violations of the law."
Brennan Spoor, Staff Attorney for Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, shared his thanks for the many groups and individuals who played a part in this victory: “This historic day for the Atchafalaya Basin would not have happened without the immeasurable support Basinkeeper has received from its members and allies. We owe this victory to the Environmental Law Clinic at Tulane Law School, who successfully represented Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West, Healthy Gulf, Sierra Club and its Delta Chapter, and Waterkeeper Alliance in this lawsuit; to St. Martin Parish and Iberville Parish, both of which passed resolutions in support of us and filed amicus briefs in this case to express the Parishes’ concerns about the EGL Project; to Assumption Parish, also passing a resolution in support of our lawsuit; to the media outlets and news stations who were willing to cover this story to shed light on this existential threat to the Basin; to Dr. Ivor Van Heerden, who provided invaluable research and reports for this lawsuit that gave the Corps ample evidence showing this project would result in an ecological disaster; to the crawfishers who helped establish standing for this case to proceed; and to all the members who help support Basinkeeper and our partner organizations as we fight to stop the destruction of our Basin.”
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Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, founded in 2004, is a member organization of Waterkeeper Alliance, representing over 2000 members. The mission of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper is to protect and restore the swamps, lakes, rivers, streams, and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin for future generations. For more information, visit basinkeeper.org.
Healthy Gulf is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico. Since 1994, Healthy Gulf’s mission has been to collaborate with and serve communities who love the Gulf of Mexico by providing the research, communications, and coalition-building tools needed to reverse the long pattern of over-exploitation of the Gulf’s natural resources. Visit healthygulf.org or follow @HealthyGulf on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West (LCPA-West) was formed in the late 80s-early 90s because of trespassing threats against crawfishermen in the Atchafalaya Basin. The mission of LCPA-West is to fight for and protect the free use of navigable waters and water bottoms of the Atchafalaya Basin and state. LCPA-West also fights to restore the Atchafalaya Basin to its natural state as much as possible and does everything possible to bring the polluters and abusers of the Basin to justice. The organization fights for all users of the basin. For more information, visit lcpawest.com.
The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. Its Louisiana Chapter is the Delta Chapter. The Sierra Club's stated mission is "to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources; to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.” For more information, visit sierraclub.org/louisiana. .
Waterkeeper® Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 300 community-based Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates around the world, focusing citizen action on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. The Waterkeeper movement patrols and protects nearly six million square miles of rivers, lakes, and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. For more information, visit waterkeeper.org.
EAST GRAND LAKE SYPNOSIS
o The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest contiguous swamp in north America and is one of most productive swamps in the world. The Basin’s wetlands are critically important for migratory birds in the Western Hemisphere and their capacity to store and release flood waters protect much of south-central Louisiana from flooding.
o Projects that divert river water full of sand and silt into the Basin swamps are forever destroying those natural wetlands, cypress swamps, lakes, and bayous by filling them with sediments and pollutants. Many of these projects are supported by oil and gas companies and large land corporations who benefit from these changes in the Basin that frustrate commercial fishing and public access and pave the way for further privatization of wetland forests for private benefit from logging and other uses.
o Because of the unique nature and location of the Basin, the impacts of oil and gas exploration and development, and its manipulation and use by the Army Corps to pass floodwaters, river diversion projects have historically impaired Basin swamps rather than improved the areas as may be the case in other parts of Louisiana. Diversion projects in the Basin such as those occurring in Bayou Eugene, Buffalo Cove, and Beau Bayou have already filled thousands of acres of swamp wetlands. We have already lost or severely degraded approximately 75% of the Basin’s cypress swamps, lakes, and bayous and cannot afford to continue to degrade these resources that are critical for navigability and fishing, wildlife habitat, and flood protection.
o The proposed East Grand Lake Ecological Enhancement Project is in essence a river diversion project presented as a water quality restoration project. The project will introduce river water with sediments and pollutants from the Atchafalaya River and Bayou Sorrel through 12 cuts into the surrounding cypress swamps. Wetlands expert Dr. Ivor van Heerden conservatively calculated that enough sand and silt could be introduced through these cuts to fill over 1,100 acres of wetlands in just a four-month period. In just one flood season, these swamps will suffer increased sedimentation and water quality impairment, and over time these harms will continue until the area is transformed or the cuts fill in with sediment. To promote the project they claim that diversion of river water will “nourish” the swamp. However, available science shows that diverting river water into the swamps will suffocate and fill these wetland forests with sediment as the Basin experienced in Bayou Eugene, Buffalo Cove, and Beau Bayou.
o Additionally, the newly proposed disposal method for the spoil dredged in carving out the 12 cuts raises serious concerns for the impacts of this project and future development projects in the Basin. The project proposes to dispose of dredged material next to the cut sites and suggests that spreading the spoil and/or piling it into adjacent canals will not harm the area but rather will nourish and create wetlands. However, the project proposal does not explain or provide scientific support for these claims that the spoil will benefit, nourish and create wetlands, which raises serious concerns for the impact footprint of this project and the application of legal standards to prevent harm and losses to wetlands for future development projects in the Basin.
Fundamental discrepancies on the science, Reports by Dr. Ivor Van Heerden
LSU Report on the failed Buffalo Cove Project
Iberville Parish Resolution against EGL Project
Press Release 5.15.24 about our lawsuit against the project
Motion for Summary Judgment 2.27.25
Iberville Parish Amicus Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment 3.5.25
St. Martin Parish Amicus Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment 6.10.25
Reply to Corps’ Motion for Summary Judgment 4.29.25
Order Granting Motion for Introduce Buffalo Cove Report as Extra-Record Evidence
The biggest threat to the Atchafalaya Basin is sedimentation. The biggest contributor to this threat, is by far government funded river diversion projects designed to fill those wetlands with sand and silt to benefit a hand full of corporate landowners/waterbottom claimants under the disguise of “water quality projects”. The Bayou Eugene, Buffalo Cove and Beau Bayou Projects have already devastated huge amount of wetlands, lakes and bayous. The EGL project will be another project that will destroy huge amounts of wetlands.
From Dr. Ivor Van Heerden report: So, this EGL project, in just a four-month flood based on 2011 data (Welch et al, 2014) covers 1188 acres with at least 4 inches of sediment, and this is a very conservative estimate. If you review Table 3 (Stations 10 and 11) you will see that the suspended sediment loads measured during the 2011 flood were well below the median of the historical data.” See van Heerden Expert Report at 12
ABK is making a priority to stop this project. So far, we have sent 1 comment letter to the Corps in 2018(Corps letter file 1, file 2, file 3, file 4) another in 2022 Public Comments Submitted to USACE New Orleans District on May 24, 2022, EGL Attachments to Public Comments 5/24/22 and two comment letters to the Atchafalaya Basin Program under Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. The first are comments to the Atchafalaya 2020 draft Annual Plan sent in 2019 ABP FY 2020 Comments, Exhibits A-B, Exhibits C-E and the second are comments to the Atchafalaya 2021 draft Annual Plan sent in 2020 ABP FY 2021 Comments.
We recently obtained 1979 EPA report that warns the state and the Corps against such projects and the threat they pose to swamps and the Basin flood capacity 1979 EPA Report. ABK has sent this report and additional comments to Corp and CPRA on 4/27/20 ABK Comments.
Dr. Ivor Van Heerden’s response to SIGMA, the company hired by the state to push the project can be found here SIGMA Response.
Tulane Supplemental Letter to Corps
Dr. Ivor Van Heerden’s response to 2022 permit notice
12/20/22 Iberville Parish Council voted unanimously to pass a resolution against the East Grand Lake Project. We want to thank the entire council and specially Pete Kelly, Matt Jewel and Chasity Easley for their courage and integrity to move this forward. We all should be so proud of our councilmen and councilwomen!. For our children, always for them.
http://ibervilleparish.com/departments/council/videos 12/20/22 starting at 44:45
AUDIO FROM PUBLIC HEARING 2016
This is the recordings from the 2016 public hearing in Bayou Sorrel and Henderson. The first part is Bayou Sorrel. Henderson starts on 2:14 hours on the recording. Mayor of Henderson talks about silting the Basin, time on the recording 2:30. TNC project conversation in Henderson starts at 2:14 on the recording. Jody did an incredible speech, time on the recording 3:18. During the meeting in Henderson, Don Haydel conveyed that though100% of the people attending the public hearings in Bayou Sorrel and Henderson opposed the project, if they can get the approval from the legislators they will move forward, this conversation starts at 4:18.50. “The truth is not a choice.” Dean
These pictures show crawfish traps buried in sediment from a similar project, The Buffalo Cove Project
Read the article by Courthouse News HERE
