Merger of Pontchartrain, Maurepas?

NEW ORLEANS - A coalition of environmental groups have called on Louisiana to prioritize projects in the state’s wide-ranging plan for coastal restoration and storm protection. The groups, called Restore the Mississippi River Delta, chose 17 best-dollar projects in the state’s 2017 Coastal Master Plan. The groups point to critical pieces of real estate, such as the Manchac land bridge, which separates Lake Pontchartrain from Lake Maurepas. Scientists warn that a worst-case scenario is from rising sea levels and subsidence wiping out the marshy areas that protect inland communities. Restore the Mississippi River Delta warned the loss of the land bridge would pose a threat to both sides of the lake in north New Orleans and the southern part of Baton Rouge. The list of 17 projects includes four diversions of various sizes that would feed fresh water from Mississippi River into the Manchac Swamp. (Source: WVUE 11/15/17)