Posted 6/04/2007 05:20:00 PM by Douglas

It was bound to happen. Not even politicians in Louisiana can ignore mother nature forever. Looks like a $50 Billion wall of $1 bills is what it's going to take to protect Louisiana's wetlands, or as I like to call it, the sewer of the continent.

The ambitious plan would create a series of gates that would control the release of silt-laden river water, which would sustain existing wetlands and rebuild some of those that have been buried by the encroaching Gulf of Mexico.

It will mimic the river's natural ebb and flow in some areas while keeping critical shipping channels open.

In a unanimous vote, state lawmakers signed off on the project Wednesday, which could take decades to implement and cost upwards of 50 billion dollars.

"This is the largest scale project of anything of this nature we have ever seen in this country," said King Milling, chairman of America's Wetland Foundation.

"It is costly, but the price of not doing it would be much greater."

Do nothing, or spend $50 Billion dollars? Either way, the river is going to go where it wants to go. It's a matter of time.

Since the 1930s, the state has lost an estimated 1.2 million acres, according to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the commission that drew up the master plan.

More than 15,000 acres per year are being swallowed by salt water, threatening entire communities and industries.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 dramatically accelerated the rate of loss. The storms claimed more than 200 square miles of land and damaged or destroyed approximately 200,000 homes.

Either way, problem solved.