Deer Island Restoration

Introduction

Deer Island, Mississippi, is a coastal barrier island located just to the east of Biloxi. It has been eroding and migrating shoreward, in response to change in sea-level and storms. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) and the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) began a multi-year restoration project of the eroded north-eastern end of Deer Island in 2003.

Dredged material from maintenance of Biloxi Harbor was used to create approximately 30 acres (300 feet by 4300 feet) of tidal marsh on the north shore of the east end of the island. Material removed from the channel by hydraulic dredge was deposited inside a sand-berm constructed of natural material from the adjacent bottom. After dewatering and stabilization of this fill, planting of the sand-berm and selected areas of fill was done in spring 2005 with volunteers. Total project cost was $1,000,000. Additional replanting of selected areas has been ongoing to stabilize the sand-berm and new fill that has been added to the site since 2009. In 2010, MDMR began a project to test recycled oyster shell as a breakwater and help reduce ongoing erosion.

A research project of the Center for Plant Restoration and Coastal Plant Research - https://sites.google.com/site/coastalplantrestoration/