In this article it says that after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished building a rock dam across the MR-GO at Bayou La Loutre last April nothing was the same in Shell Beach. The tide started doing unexpected things like running in the same direction whether its rising or falling. Frank Campo said “Used to be when you said ‘tide’s rising’ it meant the water was coming in from the lake, and when ‘tides’ falling, it was running out toward the Lake (Borgne), but that’s not the case anymore,” “Now, on a southwest wind, the water is always running out toward the channel and the lake, even if the level is rising or falling.”
That’s really weird. I never expected that building a dam would change the direction the tides going. In my opinion I think they should take this rock dam down because this could change the water environment around that area, and you never know this could cause a lot of damage in the future.
What do you think of this idea? Do you think they should take this down? If so why?
1 Response to “Messing with Mother Nature!”
Wow. This definitely reflects badly on the Army Corps of Engineers. Isn’t this department supposed to produce some of the best trained civil engineers in the country? One would think that building a massive rock dam near an estuary would change the movement of currents and tides near the area. This is simply common sense! Before you go about building infrastructure in the natural environment you must take into consideration the affects the structure will have on its surroundings. It is imperative that these effects be accounted for and minimized by developers.
Not only has this structure drastically changed currents and tidal patterns in the area but also salinity variations. Areas that used to be strictly freshwater are mixing with ocean water, causing harm to many plant species. Dead zones, or areas of low oxygen are also forming showing detrimental affects on shrimp and some fish populations.
I think taking down this dam would also have some adverse affects. The damage has already begun and removing the structure might just cause more issues. This situation demonstrates how all aspects of development must be taken into consideration BEFORE construction.