Related Pipelines and Navigation Canals in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico

Johnson, James

Relative impacts on wetland habitats and effectiveness of mitigation. The study area boundaries incorporate the MMS western (Mexico/Texas border to Texas/Louisiana border) and central (Texas/Louisiana border to a point south of the eastern edge of Mobile Bay, Alabama) planning areas of the Gulf of Mexico. The study area is further subdivided into five subareas based on geologic and political features: Texas barrier islands (TBI), Texas chenier plain (TCP), Louisiana chenier plain (LCP), Louisiana deltaic plain (LDP), and the Mississippi-Alabama coastal plain (MACP). The project was organized into four major components: (1) Literature review: a review of the literature of activities, impacts, and mitigation practices associated with OCS-related pipelines and navigation canals, (2) GIS analysis: collection and collation of spatial data on locations and habitats of OCS-related pipelines and navigation canals, as well as generation of datasets on land loss and habitat change within the immediate vicinity of these pipelines and navigation canals, (3) analysis of land loss and habitat change: statistical analyses of trends in land loss and habitat change and the impacts of the construction of pipelines and navigation canals on those trends, and (4) mitigation effectiveness: an evaluation of the effectiveness of mitigation techniques at ameliorating the impacts of pipelines and navigation canals.