Borrow Pits on Estuarine Sediment Dynamics, Barataria Bay, Louisiana

The report summarizes the analysis to evaluate the consequences of borrowing sediment from inter-distributary bays in the Mississippi River Delta Plain (MRDP), specifically in Barataria Bay. The report details the model development methods, scenarios examined, and results of the numerical model experiment. It discusses the implications for siting and monitoring hypothetical borrow pits at selected locations within Barataria Bay. Further, the study provides additional insight into the impact of borrow pits on local hydrodynamics and quantifies the effects of borrow pits on the tidal prism and evaluates the impact of borrow pits on local and regional sediment budgets, including the potential effects on marsh shorelines along the bay perimeter, and borrow pit influence on sediment exchange at tidal inlets fronting Barataria Bay.