Wetlands restoration has been pushed to the bottom of a very long post-hurricane priority list. That may not be surprising, but it is a big mistake.

The future of the region’s habitability is tied to the health of its wetlands.

Since the 1930’s, Louisiana has lost wetlands. The army built dams, levees and canals along the Mississippi river that held back or diverted much of the sediment that had replenished the delta soil. Channels dug for shipping have allowed salt water to infiltrate and kill off vegetation. Our tinkering starved the wetlands.

That makes it all the more important to seize this moment, when the whole country’s attention is focused on making the area more secure. The $100 million on the table now is small change for small projects. It would pay to begin diverting water back to the marshes. The corps also needs to close one of the worst canals, the Mississippi river Gulf outlet, to navigation so it can carry fresh water and replenishing silt to the wetlands.

Wetlands protection isn’t pork, and it certainly isn’t starry-eyed environmentalism. It would correct a flawed approach to public works that stripped the coastline and endangered those living beyond it.

The affected area cannot rebuild just for the sake of rebuilding while the ground underneath disappears.