Gulf Coast Restoration--Where's the Sediment?

A frequent commenter here keeps harping, or insisting, on the primacy of coastal restoration in the mix of elements leading to the revival, or survival, of New Orleans. The Times-Picayune did a big piece over the weekend that put the spotlight on two crucial facts: Congress has approrpriated zero -- that is to say, nothing -- additional for coastal restoration since Katrina wiped out a swath of vulnerable coastline. And, despite plans to stop dredging the Mississippi and dumping the sediment out in the Gulf (!) (the longstanding practice by the Corps of Engineers), those who keep count on such things report that the amount of sediment in the River available for diversion, via dumping or pipeline, to coastal wetlands revival is down sharply from what the river's "sediment budget" was before we started messing with the Mississippi-Missouri river system. The Corps taketh away, the Corps taketh away.