Christopher M Swarzenski
Science and Products
Assessing the Influence of the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion on Water-Quality in Waterways and Marshes of Barataria Preserve
In 2002, the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion began diverting up to 10,000 cfs of Mississippi River water into the waters surrounding the Barataria Preserve of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. Previously, precipitation, local surface-water runoff, and occasional marine intrusion largely determined quality of surface and marsh porewaters at the Preserve. The new influx of...
Physical soil properties of wetlands, and the hydrology of tidal swamp, tidal creeks, adjacent rivers, and adjacent marshes along the coastal gradient of palustrine, oligohaline, and mesohaline sites in relation to drought, storm, and tidal events
The LaWSC, in collaboration with researchers from the National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC), the NRP program, Auburn University, and Clemson University, is documenting conditions in tidal swamps in Louisiana, Georgia, and South Carolina as a baseline with which to compare future data to assess the impacts of climate change in such areas. Tidal swamps in these states offer an array of...
Water quality monitoring in the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Lake Borgne, and adjacent waterways in southeastern Louisiana, 2009 to 2013
In early 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) constructed a rock barrier across the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), a navigation channel between the Port of New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. In August 2008, prior to construction of the rock barrier, the LaWSC, in cooperation with the USACE, began monitoring specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and discharge in the MRGO to...
Assessment of water quality and soil conditions at the Bayou aux Carpes 404(C) property wetlands
Wetlands in the Bayou aux Carpes area, south of New Orleans, La., currently are isolated from direct inflow of storm water runoff by levees and spoil banks. The USACE is considering removal of a spoil bank that would allow storm-water runoff to flow through and across the wetlands. . The wetlands consist of floating marshes, with a predominately organic substrate, and forested wetlands, some...