Coastal Restoration Poll Shows Heavy Support For Coastal Diversion

The Restore the Mississippi River Delta campaign has released a poll that shows 79% of coastal voters support diverting fresh water from the Mississippi River to build and maintain thousands of acres of land. There are those who oppose sediment diversion, because of the ecological impact.

“The numbers we did get back were pretty clear that people have a sense of what's going on and wanted to move ahead, not to other people's detriment but for the overall good for what we need to do there," said Steve Cochran with the Campaign.

There is opposition to these large-scale engineering projects, because of what impact it may have on fisheries and economies of coastal communities. Cochran says while not overwhelming, these projects did still receive majority backing.

“We’ve found very strong support in areas where there’s been some controversy. In Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes the numbers have been around 70% support.”

They’re numbers that should grab the attention of people running for office in coastal areas. While Cochran says support for coastal restoration may not be controversial, the solid backing for potentially expensive sediment projects should show officials it’s a popular position to hold.

“The challenge is more to the point of, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to do it, and how are you going to do it better than the next guy? I think that’s what we’ll need to be thinking about come campaign time, is how we get the very best action, and the very best funding."