RECOMMENDED
LETTER TO CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
The
Honorable Jo Bonner
United
States House of Representatives
2236 Rayburn
House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The
Honorable Jeff Sessions
United States Senate
335 Russell Senate
Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0104
The
Honorable Richard Shelby
United States Senate
335 Russell
Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0104
Dear
____________:
I
am writing to request that you use the power of your position as a
member of Congress to add Mobile County to the ongoing U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program
(MsCIP) Study. The MsCIP Study was authorized by Congress to respond
to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The Corps was directed to
design improvements “… in the coastal area of
Mississippi in the interest of hurricane and storm damage reduction,
prevention of saltwater intrusion, preservation of fish and wildlife,
prevention of erosion, and other related water resource purposes”.
The Hurricane Katrina problems and issues experienced by coastal
Mississippi are identical to those suffered by Dauphin Island, the
Mobile County mainland, and Alabama’s portion of the
Mississippi Sound.
Dauphin
Island was greatly weakened by Hurricane Katrina which enlarged a
breach that cuts the island in half, allowing high salinity Gulf of
Mexico waters to intrude into Alabama’s portion of the
Mississippi Sound. The breach has contributed to eliminating oyster
production from Alabama’s principal reefs, contributing to the
economic problems of our already stressed local seafood industry.
The decimated western half of Dauphin Island also exposes Mobile
County’s mainland coastal communities to an increased risk of
higher wave heights in future storm events.
The
Corps MsCIP Draft Report recommends the development of a
Comprehensive Barrier Island Restoration Plan. That plan has a
projected construction cost of $477,200,000, all of which would be
expended to restore the Mississippi barrier islands west of Dauphin
Island. The primary purpose of that work is to protect the
Mississippi mainland and to maintain Mississippi Sound as an estuary.
These needs are just as pressing in Mobile County.
The
Corps Study revealed a regional shortage of sand within the barrier
island system that threatens the long-term existence of the islands.
Although the sand shortage actually begins on Dauphin Island, the
Corps did not include Dauphin Island in the restoration plan. As the
lead island in the barrier island chain, Dauphin Island must be
addressed in an equal fashion to the Mississippi islands to develop a
truly “comprehensive” approach to restoring the entire
barrier island system.
Dauphin
Island makes many important contributions to coastal Alabama that are
often not fully appreciated by most Alabamians. Significant among
those is the creation of the estuarine habitat conditions that are
essential to the production of shrimp, crabs, and finfish of
recreational and commercial finfish. Also of great importance is the
buffer the Island serves in sheltering the Alabama and Mississippi
mainland shoreline during major storms.
Since
the Corps recommends the Comprehensive Barrier Island Restoration
Plan be subjected to additional analyses it is not too late to
include Dauphin Island in the future analyses. I have no wish to
delay the progress of work in Mississippi. However, inclusion of
Dauphin Island in the future studies provides an opportunity to
accomplish a number of positive objectives in Alabama as well as
benefiting the down-drift Mississippi barrier islands. The fact that
the Comprehensive Barrier Island Restoration Plan will be prepared
“…at full Federal expense…” instead of
under a cost-shared arrangement means that there would be no costs to
the State of Alabama.
There
is a compelling case for Mobile County to be added to the MsCIP
Study, and Dauphin Island in particular to be included in the
Comprehensive Barrier Island Restoration Plan. Governor Riley has
recently requested you and other members of Alabama’s
Congressional delegation to work toward adding Dauphin Island to the
Comprehensive Barrier Island Restoration Plan. Your full support is
necessary and essential to make that happen. I request you to devote
all efforts possible in that direction for the benefit of a
substantial number of your constituents.
Sincerely,
_____________________
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