Hear how Louisiana river plans will affect the Mississippi Coast at public forum

After a tumultuous summer for the seafood and tourism industries in 2019, many organizations are analyzing what’s next for Coastal Mississippi.

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and the Gulf Coast Business Council on Wednesday are hosting a Bonnet Carrè Spillway & Louisiana Diversions Forum.

A panel of regional experts will break down hydrodynamics in the Mississippi Sound as well as the spillway openings and Louisiana’s plan for Mississippi River diversions.

According to Gulf Coast Business Council CEO Ashley Edwards, they’re partnering with DMR to let business leaders and elected officials hear directly from scientists and experts, especially as the 2020 legislative session nears.

“We know there are many questions lingering — both about what happened this summer and on what the future holds regarding freshwater intrusion into the Mississippi Sound,” said Edwards.

“This is a critical topic for our region.”

The forum is from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Park campus in Long Beach. Doors open at 1 p.m.

Agenda:

• 1:30-2 p.m. Opening Remarks - Joe Spraggins, DMR executive director; Ashley Edwards, president and CEO of the Business Council; Chip Kline, Louisiana Governor’s Office, executive assistant for Coastal Activities and Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (LCPRA) Board chairman
  
  
• 2-2:30 p.m. Topic 1 - Western Mississippi Sound Hydrodynamics and Lower Pearl River Discharge by Paul Mickle, DMR chief scientific officer
• 2:30-3 p.m. Topic 2 - Historic 2019 Mississippi River Flood by Joey Windham, Chief of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mississippi Valley Watershed Division
  
  
• 3-3:30 p.m. Topic 3 - LA Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority Briefing on Louisiana Plan by Brad Barth, Mid-Basin Sediment Diversion program manager, LCPRA
• 3:30-3:45 p.m. Break
• 3:45-5 p.m. Panel Discussion on the effects of Mississippi River and Diversions by John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation; Bren Haase, LCPRA executive director; Moby Solangi, Institute for Marine Mammal Studies; Joey Windham, USACE Mississippi Valley Watershed Division; Read Hendon, USM Gulf Coast Research Lab; moderated by Spraggins.
• 5-5:30 p.m. Closing remarks
• 5:30-7 p.m. Evening social