U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) has introduced a resolution in the Senate to designate September 20 through September 27, 2025, as National Estuaries Week. The resolution aims to highlight the need for protecting and restoring estuaries across the United States, which face growing threats from rising sea levels, pollution, and extreme weather events.
“When Louisiana’s coastlines are protected, so is our way of life. Our estuaries are a lifeline. We must keep them healthy,” said Dr. Cassidy.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Cassidy in introducing the measure.
Daniel Hayden, President of Restore America’s Estuaries, commented on the significance of the initiative: “National Estuaries Week reminds us of the vital role estuaries, bays, sounds, and coastal regions play in our nation’s future. Nearly 40% of Americans live in a coastal region and many more rely on them for food, recreation, and trade but more can be done to ensure these ecosystems continue to thrive. We depend on our estuaries, and our estuaries depend on us. Restore America’s Estuaries thanks Senator Cassidy, Senator Whitehouse, and all of their colleagues who signed on to this bipartisan resolution – demonstrating continued support of our estuaries from our nation’s capital.”
Bren Haase, Director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program also expressed support: “National Estuaries Week is a chance to celebrate the places that sustain our way of life in Louisiana and across the country. Estuaries are working landscapes—they buffer us from storms, fuel our fisheries, and anchor the communities and traditions that define coastal life. Here in the Barataria-Terrebonne region, we see every day how important it is to invest in restoring and protecting these waters and wetlands. We’re grateful for the bipartisan leadership in the Senate that recognizes the value of our nation’s estuaries and the role they play in building a more resilient future.”
Estuaries are defined as partially enclosed coastal bodies of water where freshwater from rivers or streams meets an open body such as a sea or one of the Great Lakes. Although these regions cover only about 13 percent of U.S land area according to data from NOAA (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/estuaries.html), nearly 40 percent of Americans reside there—a population responsible for almost half of national economic output.
These areas provide essential services like water filtration, flood control, shoreline stabilization, erosion prevention and serve as natural barriers during hurricanes or other severe weather events.
However, threats have been increasing over time; since the 1780s more than half of continental U.S wetlands have been lost according to estimates by U.S Fish & Wildlife Service (https://www.fws.gov/program/wetlands). Additionally some bays that once supported fisheries have become “dead zones” due to issues such as algal blooms or chemical contamination.
