Louisiana's $2-Billion Gamble: Flood the Land to Save the Coast

After Hurricane Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast in August 2021, it took more than 100 lives and cost billions of dollars in damage. To some here, the storm’s coming was just one more justification for a desperate measure to preserve the state’s coast by intentionally flooding it parts of the state.
“I don't mean to be alarmist about it, but anybody who’s spent any time along our coast, whether you’re fishing, hunting or working, you’ve seen the changes to our coast. We know it's going away,” says Bren Haase, executive director of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). “I don't think we can be successful without using the tools and the resources in the Mississippi River to help restore our coast.”
This project was partially supported by generous grants from Economic Hardship Reporting Project, the Pulitzer Center, the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program and the National Association of Science Writers.
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[@blackhawk7r221]

Unless rivers and bayous are allowed to overflow their banks annually to replenish silt deposits, the marsh will continue to biodegrade and subside like it has always done. Many do not understand that it is not a coastal erosion problem, it’s a problem of organic decay causing natural subsidence land loss, now with levees preventing flood silt replenishment.

[@fredericrike5974]

The "smart money" down there knows this- but the smart money down there has been seen eating lunch and dinner with oil executives for decades. When Huey Long died, corruption in Louisiana did not just go away. FR

[@drewdorkhead]

Spot on! It's just respiring the sediment away after the land was drained, straight into the damn atmosphere

[@paxundpeace9970]

Yeah. That's the problem

[@Ryan-ju3zq]

So like, levees with like controlled spillways could be a solution

[@cocorna3282]

YOU CLEARLY SUFFER FROM CL (COMMON LOGIC) You're one of 'them' who makes decisions based on fact aaand not emotion.

[@bassmaster8447]

The Army Corp of Engineering is the reason we’re losing our Louisiana coast line and delta in the first base. Soon as they started controlling the Mississippi River and not letting it move naturally this started.

[@richardeverett7124]

When they straightened out the river in places all that dirt just shot out into the gulf instead of flooding land an depositing silt. I noticed that the river doesn't produce oxbows anymore. Your right this is a man made problem an they never own up to their mistakes

[@Freshbott2]

@@richardeverett7124 Instead of just undoing the changes the solution is spending billions in new money for new projects 👍

[@hanleyk]

too late to point fingers. we have to un-screw the screwup.

[@sirzebra]

@@Freshbott2 "Undoing" the changes would mean flooding and razing litteral hundreds of mid-sized towns all across the state, it was a mistake / poorly managed in the first place, but destroying everything is not much of a solution either. It makes for a quick cheap and sterile comment, i'll give you that.

[@mawi1172]

Bullcrap.

[@jonathanlanglois2742]

The thing is that in its natural state, the river would constantly be changing course. Some sections would fill will fresh water while other would fill with salt water as river channels got blocked or banks got breached.

[@flightographist]

A multi dimensional hypervolume thinker! Yup, you're right. Unfortunately, the extant level of interference cannot be corrected in one project. This does appear to be a very good first step.

[@Dakidpepe]

Mother nature is always gonna win especially when Louisiana is already under sea level.

[@cfuzzkennedy]

@@Dakidpepe Louisiana is under sea level? All of it? That is strange.

[@Mehwhatevr]

I feel sorry for those fisherman who will lose their livelihood, but they’re thinking like the Chinese. “We can’t save our land without destroying our livelihoods, so let’s just continue to destroy the land and make money and hope that something will happen in the future if at all.” The government ought to help these people move. If we’re giving billions of dollars to other countries, the government could surely help these people. The cost of losing the wetlands and the increasing damage of hurricanes surely outweighs the cost of helping these people relocate

[@paxundpeace9970]

Constantly that is true it is slow flowing river this makes it even more apparent. Those projects would need to be replaced every few decades.

[@ellenbryn]

Good short docu, but it raises one important question. The shrimpers and oystermen fear the saltwater species they harvest will be driven out by the reversal of coastline loss, which is necessary to keep their own homes from being destroyed ny hurricanes. But it's not like that's going to wipe out life in the area: OTHER species of seafood will move in. In fact, we've seen time and again that when we restore even a little bit of an ecosystem that existed for thousands of years before the last 100+ years of human alterations, biodiversity and fertility often goes up in unexpected ways, like the wolves of yellowstone cutting back the deer herds that overgrazed, leading to trees, leading to beaver dams, leading to a TON of new species of plants, fish, and animals returning to the park - it changed the rivers! So the oystermen need to ask the Native tribes still living in the area what seafood and hunting and other resources they LOST on when the Mississippi was diverted away and their freshwater wetlands went brackish. That had to be equally catastrophic, so there must be records or oral histories. Scientists csn probably dig up some of this history in the mud beds of the few bits of wetland that haven't been washed out to sea.

[@barodrinksbeer7484]

You coincidentally just explained why we should not support the reclamation of coastal land and the introduction of more freshwater species. We diverted the Mississippi river, it killed off a majority of the freshwater inhabitants of Louisiana in coastal adjacent areas. However, in no way did it divert the already existing encroachment of the coastal waterfront. Hurricanes would have brought invasive species to Louisiana and pulled non-invasive species out into the gulf stream (that's how biodiversity generally works in marine aquatic areas, especially for Halophilic life forms). Some aquariums have problems when they empty a tank from salt water to fresh (No matter what size tank), Halophilic bacteria generally tend to stick around and make it harder for more common bacteria to grow. Even with the reintroduction of freshwater, it will take years for fresh and brackish species to start inhabiting these waterways. By that time, the coastline will reincrouch upon these freshwater species, causing the same "problem" we had before. I like that you bring up Native tribes, because like native tribes we need to learn when to move inland when the weather is bad, then come back to fish during more favorable seasons. However, the reality is no one wants to do that.

[@matthewhaselhorst1778]

Morally that doesn’t stand. You could use your same argument for the natives that lost the fishing environment just backwards. Just because they lost it doesn’t mean you need to spend billions to get it back and to take away someone else’s fishing environment. “Well they could just fish the new species in the area”… soooo the natives can’t do the same thing now??? It’s the same argument as “learn to code”, just less technological.

[@ryansullivan3423]

The freshwater is actually good for the fishing industry. Shrimp and crabs actually move into brackish water to spawn. Freshwater also carries a lot of nutrients you can get in saltwater.

[@Voren_Kurn]

Can't have it both ways. Either get land there by the project or you don't. If you don't keep the ecosystem intact. It would be awesome to do both but unless you want to try to build an underwater facility to basically be a vacuum pump & have a hose to spread the sediment along the coast from further out in the gulf. Which would cost more, be more dangerous, cause more problems for the ecosystem, and probably not even remotely bring enough sediment to the coast as needed. I doubt you will find a better project.

[@adventuress904]

From a floridian, coastal erosion is a natural process. "The beaches are eroding" because we stupidly built right up to the dunes, and now new dunes can't be created, because the areas that would have have become new dunes are now hotels, restaurants, roads, and homes. We are the problem, but not the way everyone seems to think.

[@Jacob-ed1bl]

Thank you professor! Being that you're from Florida I'm sure you're highly educated in these fields. Everyone knows that when you're from a certain place that makes you an expert on it. Sea levels are rising genius and that's an undeniable fact. That doesn't mean that natural erosion isn't a factor as well Captain obvious but that's not the biggest issue.

[@RhinoXpress]

Yes, but natural erosion vs accelerated erosion caused by man are two very diff things. In this case the erosion was caused by man when they changed the outflow of the Mississippi river which starved the delta from replenishing itself.

[@mwhitelaw8569]

I've been saying this for literally ever Like decades man They dredge upriver Sediment flows and falls A viable plan for use of said sediment has to be feasible. I really hope the first test can have good results

[@kellikelli4413]

There's a saying ~ every action has an equal and opposite reaction ~ every time the Corp of Engineers does something to the land/water it causes other issues...

[@mwhitelaw8569]

@@kellikelli4413 Sometimes it's nearly impossible to predict the future of occurrences. I just hopeful for future protection of land With all the sedimentation that happens in the delta that's got to be some good fine soil

[@PumpkinKingXXIII]

Louisianas coastal problems has nothing to do with climate problems. It has to do with the fact that they allowed waterways to be cut into out bayou to get out oil and gas and the fact they built levees to prevent the seasonal flooding that use to happen. The bayous are both eroding and the ground is compacting and Subsidence. It’s not the water getting higher, we are getting lower.

[@LichaelMewis]

correct, plus all the oil and gas that's been extracted over the decades.

[@TheJguillory2008]

Exactly take out all the man made crap levees damns etc and allow the rivers to do what they do best and build land naturally again stop trying to control Mother Nature just learn to live with it because when we fight it Mother Nature proves time and time again that she can and will do it her way

[@sambecker2155]

Climate change makes the gulf warmer so the stronger hurricanes hit more frequently eroding the coast, and rising ocean levels will only get worse with time. We're sinking and the ocean is rising.

[@TheJguillory2008]

@@sambecker2155 there’s no extra water on the planet all the water on it has been on it forever how do you figure the temperature of the planet affects the water levels like oh it’s hot so more water forms magically out of no where and poof we all flood it doesn’t work that way do some actual research before bringing misinformation out and before you say the icecaps melting makes the water rise that’s false too fill a glass full of ice and water and let it sit till all the ice melts the water level is the same so all the ice in the world could melt and the rivers and oceans will still be the same level

[@PumpkinKingXXIII]

@@sambecker2155 yea not buying that. NOAA has been caught changing numbers too mamy time to believe that. In the 70 they were saying were going into a little ice age now it’s temps are rising. It’s just the weather

[@richarddrum9970]

The Louisiana coastline has been sinking for decades as sediment from the mighty miss has deposited into the gulf hypoxia zone and depressed the sea floor. The same is going on along the western coast of Mississippi and that effect was exemplified during Katrina’s storm surge. The phrase “relative sea level rise” was born during hydrologic analysis of that hurricane’s tragic effects. Permanent evacuation of parts of the coastline is not popular but is a safe alternative when combined with ecosystem restoration and park development.

[@kellikelli4413]

Land in Louisiana is sinking. Or, sea levels are rising ~ in that area. I doubt the alleged X-perts know enough about mother nature to understand it. Which means, they're just guessing at the remedy. (imo) But obviously people had to move from that area.

[@richarddrum9970]

@@builtnotboughtmadeinphilip3955 that is an option if the acquiring agency can gain congressional authorization and allocations to acquire flood prone property at fair market value. FEMA has done this in the past in the aftermath of damaging hurricanes and other flood damage reduction related agencies have had such programs as well. Keeping future developers off that acquired land is a chore for local governments.

[@mrkazman]

Something tells me the affected communities want the silt to be pumped up and dumped on the coast. Even if it was spread well, it would be an undertaking beyond anything the state can afford. The river surely has great moving power.

[@SerangelROM]

It would cost trillions to be able to replace more sediment than the ocean can erode.

[@randybye6539]

So how did the salt water eco system survive when the river over flowed? That’s a serious question, not satire. I hear fisherman in Lafitte complain about the fresh water. Go to the south shore of Lake Salvador. What do you see? Cypress stumps. Guess it used to be fresh water years ago, because we all know salt water kills cypress trees. I live in New Orleans suburbs, and have my entire life. I’ve seen the coast disappear. In the 80s I used to run from Westwego to Grand Isle. It was a defined waterway. Go today, you better know your way. I’m not saying the project should or shouldn’t be done, but damn, something needs to be done.

[@kaymish6178]

The Fisher folk are ignorant and completely full of lies. Just the same as farmers and shop keepers. The Wellington City Council decided to remove onstreet parking to make bike lanes so the shop keepers sued the council despite every piece of scientific evidence showing that bike lanes are good for businesses. Auckland did the same thing except the businesses sued too late and the injunction came after the bike lane was built. Guess what the businesses had to pay more tax because the bike lanes made them make mire money. Same thing will happen to these Fisher folk they will cry and cry but the healthier ecosystem from the project will assure them more bountiful harvests and they will make more money.

[@stormelemental13]

I didn't survive there. Prior to the channelization of the river, areas that flooded didn't have the same mix of species. The salt water fishing economy that grew up in these areas is a result of changes to the ecosystem due to prevent floodwaters from reaching the area.

[@fredericrike5974]

One of the smarter answers here- I grew up in NO, and still see myself as "from New Orleans". I remember it a couple of decades earlier than you- it was even better, but best with a local to avoid stumps and such. As to what happens- all those dying cypresses you see along I10 to BR are from salt water intrusion- long before the thirty plus foot levees were built, the Mississippi River Valley was covered with cypress trees- most of the older houses you do find in NO are built from that lumber. Randy, in so many ways man can never make that river basin or coastline what is once was. That was always a dynamic thing anyway- man threw in his changes and short circuited many long cycle natural ones. the decisions we need now are with an eye to what we will CREATE anew and what that would be, should be, what guide lines to use and what measures of success we might expect. but Randy- keep thinking, it never hurts and ma well help find the way to go. BTW, I've been that way down to the Inter Coastal Waterway- it was a great boat ride and a great time in my life. I've caught fresh salt water trout off Grand Isle beach and fileted them for breakfast. FR

[@zekejohnson2022]

Part of the problem is that increased salinity is killing plant life and destroying root structures that hold sediment in place.

[@SerangelROM]

Thats a fair point, since the erosion has been going on for a century, its likely that the fishing grounds being used today were freshwater in the past. Putting the diversion in would restore (assuming it works) the coast to how its supposed to be.

[@computerbob06]

We're doing similar here in the UK. We're breaking through our levies around the coastal farmland to create new wetland areas, which will help counteract both river and sea flooding! In the US, they should buy up tracts of farm land in the interior of the country and break through the levies! Trying to hold the river's back from flood plains they've always flooded in the millennia previously, is madness! Save the residential areas and the rest of the farms either side of the river!

[@iamblamb501]

I think part of the problem is that new orleans is below sea level. The last time a levee broke it flooded 80% of new orleans parish and all of st bernard. speaking in land area, that's roughly the size of all of london. I think that's why most of the people around here will never let the corps of engineers break levees.

[@chrissyli6759]

Hell No, That is Stupid to give up farmland to save the coast. They need to move further up land! Say Goodbye to The Fishing and Seafood Industry because this will Surely kill it!! They don't even know for certain this will work. Trying to solve one problem Creating an even Bigger one!!

[@fladave99]

This is a total scam. We are entering global COOLING because the Sun is DIMMING. THAT will LOWER the oceans, as it does every 400 years. SCAM to enrich politicians with bribes and pay offs

[@biohazardlnfS]

US farmland is mostly no where really all thay close to the Louisiana coast in the first place. The area has always been at or very close to being below sea level. The Mississippi is also on of the most meandering rivers in the US so they can't even blame diversions, as it's entirely possible it's delta wouldn't even be in the same area

[@priestesslucy3299]

I know there's not a huge amount of land to go around in the UK, but... Coastal Farmland??

[@stevec404]

If the river and its sediments had been allowed to continue unchanged, the coast would have been replenished gradually through the years. Making up for human mistakes is difficult. We do not yet have the 'wisdom' and power of Mother Nature to correct our mistakes quickly. Short of dredging the river and depositing the sediments south...this seems like a good plan. There is a price to pay for every mistake.

[@organicthug5220]

Humans are so smart and so stupid at the same time. No amount of scientists can predict or recreate what nature does. The best we can do is undo our damage by deconstructing it and letting nature take its course. Even if that means we lose quite a bit. Even the diversion will have problems.. it’s just not natural.

[@nickauclair1477]

Plus no community would stay there underwater every few years

[@michelebroyles6941]

Yes but. As always, the morons and crooks who created the problem never pay. They never suffer from those monstrous enormous errors. The same people who paid for their original fk up will now be expected to pay for their supposed fix?

[@d540vamartin9]

The problem is the people who made the mistakes, get to fix the problems they created, while simultaneously ignoring the people who are affected directly, who beg them to stop

[@zacharyhenderson2902]

First off, you don't know that. Second, if humans had never controlled or diverted any rivers before, including the Mississippi and other rivers and waterways that affect Louisiana, hundreds of millions of people throughout history, including tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of Americans would have had significantly worse lives and many people would not be able to live where they do. Malaria would be far more prevalent in the United States and shipping would be impossible in some areas

[@dmoon7348]

Nature always wins. I wouldn't trust anything built on a delta or a fault line for that matter.

[@abigailpena5950]

what's sad is the people who are against the project don't worry about the ecosystem's safety, they worry about losing their money, but obviously when Louisiana is totally sunk under the water, what can you do then?

[@Jacob-we3lt]

None of this has to do with “rising sea levels” it’s caused by the creation of levees, saltwater intrusion, and of course storms

[@Nolaman70]

Oil and gas exploration as well.... they never fill in those canals after the well is put in or even after it's abandon.

[@hanleyk]

@@Nolaman70 right. that's exactly where the salt water is "intruding".

[@themtbrowns]

That is an idiotic statement, come live here and you'll understand that.

[@Jacob-ed1bl]

Okay professor, I'm sure you're highly educated in these fields. An expert no doubt.

[@kelleren4840]

Not true. It is a combination of both. Rising sea levels significantly increase the erosion pressure on the coastlines, which means the diversion of natural re-sedimentation has been particularly catastrophic over the last 50-100 years.

[@fredygump5578]

The guy at the end: "The natural and historically accurate method of creating and preserving natural habitat will destroy my heritage." I guess his "heritage" doesn't go back very far, aye?

[@JesusRocks26]

Just think $40 billion sent to Ukraine, but $2billion to possibly save wetlands and people's lively hoods is a gamble

[@letsburn00]

The point of the Ukraine money is so that US soldiers don't die there. Basically, the US figures it's cheaper and better for the Ukrainians to fight and win now than the US to have to fight the Russians in 20 years.

[@berlinperez9433]

Just think we currently have the resources and ability to solve about 95% of the worlds problem. Yet we don't.

[@timp1390]

Doesn't the US spends 900billion a year on armed forces?

[@philipm3173]

@@timp1390 770 last year, they crossed 800 this year

[@catdoggo362]

@@berlinperez9433 Yes we the American citizens should nanny the world not so aid ok but the 40B is way to much and should be spent on citizens

[@BaronEvola123]

This was great. Yeah, I remember when Katrina hit how they said that because of the lack of natural sediment, hurricanes are much more intense and a deeper coastal barrier would help slow the force of the storm. I haven't thought about it since and hope it works.

[@winesap2]

So much topsoil from valuable farmland is flushed down the Mississippi due to poor farming practices all through the Mississippi watershed. Straightening rivers and streams through history also led to flooding and more erosion, pollution, and loss of topsoil. I still see farmfields going right up to the edge of rivers and deep gullying in conventional ag fields all over where I live.

[@philipm3173]

Capitalists are displacing and killing off the last of the people that know how to properly sustain a population. Humans learn the hard way. 🤷‍♂️

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

The fishermen fear short term losses. The state should supplement their business upgrades too.

[@drewp.weiner2473]

The state should do nothing and dissolve. Read “Anatomy of the State” by Murray Rothbard

[@infinitemonkey917]

The oil companies should also supplement them. They are directly responsible for much of the erosion due to all of the canals they have ripped through the land. Of course they own most of the politicians though.

[@EllissDee4you4me]

@@drewp.weiner2473 so you want anarchy? If the government dissolved we’d simply return to war lords then feudalism. Then a thousand years later the French would behead another king and we’d be right back where we are now. Anarchy, like communism, is great on paper except it ignores that humans suck and humans with power suck even more. So we have liberal democratic governments to try to keep the power in the hands of the people. Capitalism has unbalanced this system but that does not mean we should just abandon everything weve done in the last 300 years.

[@drewp.weiner2473]

@@EllissDee4you4me yes. stateless society doesn't mean a lawless society. law exist outside of statist monopolies. international law is an example. property rights would still exist. and the market would still be the great equalizer the state has unbalanced "capitalism". capitalism is free exchange. america or any other state is not a capitalist society. its a socialist oligarchy with the guise of "capitalism" the state restricts and dictates when, where, what and how "free exchange" can operate, and they balance it in favor of their campaign donors. in a market place with out the state, the good are rewarded and the bad are out of business. may i suggest the works of Menger, Mises, Rothbard, Dr. walter Block, Bob Murphy, Thomas Dilorenzo, Lysander Spooner, Stephen Kinsela, Micheal malice, James Corbett to further your understanding the anarchist position.

[@TheyCallme100]

Short term loss?? So the state will supply all the fisherman with new Boats and equipment to chase their catch 20 miles farther into the Gulf??? No I don't and won't believe it. I used to live in Port Sulphur, and Empire....Buros Brigde is where the settlement builds up... I am an eye 👀 witness to this. Then again, common sense will tell you, that the amount of fresh water going into the bay after this project will kill the salt / brackish water fishing economy for all locals almost immediately anyway....So the idea that this is the best alternative is absolutely Ludacris. So basically y'all trying to scare ppl about losing their homes due to erosion, and the only way to stop it, will cause all the local businesses and economy to shut down anyway 👍 Really????? 😒🤬🥶🥶❄️🤣😂😮‍💨 I guess that's Politics. Manipulating the Mass Tactics @ it's finest... 👀 Open ppl

[@Rexluna1]

So the fishermen are…. Fighting the project because it will hurt their business… WHEN THERE IS NO BUSINESS TO BE HAD WHEN THE COAST DISAPPEARS WITHOUT THIS PROJECT. Dredging projects simply don’t have the capacity to restore as much land as we need. Ida alone took away over 100 sq mi of land. WAKE UP, FISHERMEN!! We won’t sacrifice hundreds of thousands of people in New Orleans to save your business that has ~thrived~ for decades out of the artificial conditions created by these levees that originally put us in this situation.

[@StrangeTerror]

Here's a thought, cut out standardized housing along with the levies and start building the homes and businesses the traditional way for the region. They started going back to all houses on stilts after Katrina, keep it up. Idk why the average person is just starting to understand that we shouldn't try to conquer nature or pretend we have any real knowledge of geo-engineering at any real scale. Nevermind just starting to understand something we knew for millenia, water always wins.

[@noahlarson1861]

"Keep it up"....I see what you did there...😂 Water always wins. Amen to that!

[@hanleyk]

right. they built "The Wall", but only cut off the Mr-go by making a dam of granite rocks. you're gonna tell me that those rocks are gonna slow-down a 28' storm surge? it's a speed bump, not a barrier. The Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO, Mr Go) was created because this was the path that the Katrina surge took on its way to overtopping the levees in the NOLA Lower 9th ward > arabie > Chalmette > and everything else "down the road" (down-river). I just moved out of Chalmette. My slab's elevation was 11.5 inches. It's gonna flood again and they'll send the president & a littl fat man with a notepad in his hand.

[@popcorn00109]

I don’t believe this is going to work the way they believe it’s going too…

[@duanenavarre7234]

the band aid patch will need more patches, more tax money forever.

[@dave77t]

If they added 2 additional canals coming from the ocean feeding into the beginning of the sediment canal wouldn't that increase the salinity of that water mitigating the impact on the bay?

[@dave77t]

@William Smith uh, the gulf of Mexico!

[@2-1inffwa97]

The common sense it takes to continuously build below sea level along coasts or in deserts 🤦🏽

[@carlwest859]

> And it has taken centuries to perfect this human quality. Probably will never change.

[@juanblanco7594]

Notice the river basin NOT flooding is the problem.

[@Salsuero]

I wonder if there's a way to add salt into the river water as it diverts to the basin so that it doesn't come flooding in as purely fresh water and might be able to mix more naturally with the existing salt water biome.

[@tigerstallion]

this isnt going to work for anyone but the contractors. seriously, how did they sell fixing channelization by building a $2b channel?

[@ShadoeHaze]

it's Louisiana

[@duanenavarre7234]

sometimes money laundering is disguised as foreign aide, sometimes disguised as green energy, or other projects.

[@whydahell3816]

Im a Louisiana native. The salt water intrusion isn't good for the trees and plant holding the land. All cuts made and levees isn't great either. The runoff and waste water chemicals killing all the plants contribute too. It's not just a sediment problem. All this land once buffered Hurricanes that blew in surges of saltier water, but it blended and became brackish. It's too many combined natural disasters for a one solution fix.

[@samsmom1491]

Mangroves are perfect for that kind of water. They hold the soil in place, create nurseries for fish, nesting areas for birds and filter the water.

[@dr224]

Maybe if they didn't originally contain the mississippi river, (Old RIver Control Structure) there wouldn't be a problem. This is what happens when you mess with nature, you create more problems.

[@infinitemonkey917]

That is true but you also wouldn't have a single city on the river due to it's massive flood plain. That means no New Orleans, Memphis or St Louis. That would mean no port operations.

[@anniehimself]

@@infinitemonkey917 not to mention other cities like London and Amsterdam

[@kennethjmurphy3364]

So?

[@KelticTim]

Considering most of the “new” wetland is just what the coast looked like before man filled it all in, it sounds like nature just taking its area back

[@rcpmac]

You just made that up. Use actual facts in your comments

[@KelticTim]

@@rcpmac what do you imagine I made up? Do you have any idea how much of southern Louisiana they filled in to make it habitable? It’s all swamp land, and below the water table, which is why it floods so easily. It’s never meant to exist.

[@FarmerGrant011]

This is honestly such a waste of time. Louisiana should focus on relocating people and giving areas back to nature, not emitting carbon in the chance of potentially saving “culture”

[@garyblack8717]

What, destroy the levees and let the Mississippi flow like it did before the levees? Doubt you'll get much support for that plan!

[@joshuasanford6934]

Right now without the levees the Mississippi would divert course into the Atchafalaya basin. This is the only part of Louisiana that's keeping up with erosion/actually growing in size. Diverting water there would cause a lot of problems for communities upstream but it would be the fastest and most natural course of action for developing land vs keeping the Miss in its current state and dropping all the sediment into the massive oceanic valley right outside the current delta.

[@orincolvin6184]

A major plus it the marshes is that the marshes act like a buffer for hurricane.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

So Kuwait is building these " one way" tide barriers that prevents water from rising past a certain point in their recent land development. It was done to help keep the water from becoming stagnate. So water can flow out but not flow in in certain areas to direct flow throughout the whole system. Would it not just be easier to just use these barriers to merely prevent tidal surges but otherwise allow the river to travel as it sees fit?

[@ShadoeHaze]

Yes. But, it's Louisiana. They don't do anything here, unless it's bass-ackward.

[@justaguy6100]

There are system that allow for farming oysters that could be established in the higher salinity areas along the coast. I think the state should help the oyster harvesters to establish them, and give them a means of continuing their livelihood. The shrimping business will change, but unlike oysters, the shrimp can and will migrate to more suitable areas. It will change things, and there absolutely should be expectations to help those that are impacted financially, but without a project like this, all that will disappear anyway.

[@samsmom1491]

I'm not sure I'd want to eat oysters raised in that area...a lot of chemicals and other contaminants in that water.

[@justaguy6100]

@@samsmom1491 you probably already have, if you eat them domestically

[@edwardkaczor1532]

I used to live down there, now in Virginia. When the gulf oil spill happened, they 1st used a chemical that would eat you from the inside out and then switched to benzene. I personally would not eat anything out of the gulf, I loved it down there, but because of the benzene. Benzene gave me leukemia, diagnosis of a doctor and had a bone marrow transplant. I feel for all the people who have consumed that seafood that used to be off the charts, excellent food and the chefs that prepared it. Since the spill, it would take 15-20yrs to maybe have this happen to the people consuming the seafood. HOPE it never happens, but, beware.

[@samsmom1491]

@@justaguy6100 I don't eat oysters and never plan to. I've had mussels that we harvested from rocks at the Oregon coast and they were quite tasty. I only eat clams if in a good homemade chowder!

[@samsmom1491]

@@edwardkaczor1532 Jesus! That's scary. That makes me so very angry when billion dollar mega corporations poison a whole freaking gulf.

[@jimmyday656]

They are going to screw this up, it's Louisiana.

[@duanenavarre7234]

happens in multiple states, maybe they will learn something and can do better next time.

[@Charles-_-]

It starts with properly maintaining and dredging creeks, streams, basins and smaller rivers across the state. If they all were routinely dredged sediment could be strategically placed where it’s needed and minimize down river. City, parish and state officials need to do a better job organizing across the state. We are literally the strain in the drain for all water flowing into the gulf.

[@duanenavarre7234]

others have said the cost of dredging to fill in 4,000 sq miles is not doable, and I believe that to be true. this method has problems, but it lets the river do most of the work. if there was a perfect way it would be the plan.

[@joeljaeger8720]

So, determine the level of salt water you would need to pump in while you're pumping the freshwater and sediment. The water would remain brackish and would slowly build over time. Plant mangroves that thrive in those conditions and the land would be replenished. Right?

[@captainjoesanglingadventur4894]

I wonder why they can't Dredge the mud, pump it to the location and build land in as little as a few years as opposed to 100?

[@mwhitelaw8569]

Exactly Those dredges have massive volume rates Outflow can be diverted back

[@finscreenname]

Sea level rise has been steady from 1 to 2 mm a year for a thousand years. Don't build in a marsh or below sea level and you won't have that issue.

[@aaronbaker2186]

No... Sea level rise has never been steady. During the little ice age in the 17th century the water level fell as glaciers grew. Current water level rise is much faster than in most historical periods because of the rapid warming over the last 50-100 years.

[@finscreenname]

@@aaronbaker2186 Rapid warming? I guess you skipped over the 1920's and 30's and the decades of cooling after. I also take it that N.O., Florida and NY are now under water. I've lived on the water for 50+ years. Still waiting on my boat ramp to have water in it besides high tide. Wake up. 25 years ago they were discussing covering the poles with coal dust to stop the next on coming ice age. They have no clue what to do besides stacking up ton of money.

[@aaronbaker2186]

@@finscreenname you said the water level was rising steadily, I pointed out you were wrong. I didn't pull up numbers. That the CO2 levels today are 100 ppm higher than they were a century ago is indisputable. If you want to know how that affects things, note that Venus, twice as far from the sun as Mercury, is hotter than Mercury. If you want to make ignorant comments that show you know nothing about science, expect people who know more than you to correct you.

[@finscreenname]

@@aaronbaker2186 Go pound sand dude. Like you are the authority or something. I dont give a crap about CO2 when planting a tree will fix it (if you can get China and India to clean up their acts). It's climate nuts that have f_ed it for the environmentalists. Like the great charlatan AOC and her Green New Deal while she reps one of the dirtiest districts in the country. She would never think about organizing a district trash clean up because there is no money in it for her. The only reason anyone is worried about sea level rise is because of cities that were built and still continue to build either at or below sea level. It is just piss-poor planning and burning through that tax revenue on pet projects and not infrastructure like they should have for decades. Answer me this if everyone is so worried about sea level rise why did Obama's build/ rebuild 3 houses on two separate ocean fronts? Why did Nancy Pelosi just buy a beach front home in Florida? Why did tax payers just foot the bill for a fence around Joe Bidens beach front home in Del? You want to talk carbon, one of Al Gore's mansions makes more carbon than my whole neighborhood and he is not even there because he has 3 others just like it. Bernie Sanders need 4 houses? How many private jets flew in from all over the world to Davos just last week so they can party like rock stars? Never herd of Skype?

[@kkdesignservices183]

And so if the fishermen don't like this plan, what plan do they propose to prevent the complete disintegration of the wetlands?

[@duanenavarre7234]

the fishermen will need to relocate, not good for them, but low income workers usually get shafted in the US by many methods.

[@mikerhodes3563]

I’m from Bayou DuLarge -the core of Engineers decided make a direct connection to the Gulf of Mexico from Houma -aka “the ship channel”-this was completed in the sixties -complete devastation of the swamps and cypress /Oak groves occurred because of the salt water intrusion-lots of money changed hands with no thought of the negative consequences-I’m sure LSU is licking it chops to get a pile of this money from the project-Louisiana politicians and the Core don’t have any interest but getting money -I’m sure there was a lot of studies done on MRGO and it turned out to be a disaster and had to be shut-in the end the people who live and make a living from the water will get screwed as usual

[@anniehimself]

Whats your solution?

[@mikerhodes3563]

@@anniehimself there is no problem the southwest has always been dry - I watched the strawberry farms in California have rivers of fresh water run off fields into ditches -no water management at all

[@kennethjmurphy3364]

@@anniehimself do nothing, when your in a hole the first thing is to stop digging. You obviously don't have a solution

[@wickedcabinboy]

@@mikerhodes3563 - Your response amounts to whataboutism. California water management has nothing to do with Mississippi delta land loss.

[@thenormalyears]

You are actually not that smart if you don’t believe in science while using a fucking computer

[@ivanoffw]

So, the Mississippi River delta has been continually damaged through development (technology) in the Delta, and now they think that technology will allow them to continue the status quo. I said after Katrina that there was an opportunity to make the Mississippi River in Louisiana a National Park. All of the broken levees could have been destroyed, and all of the flooded land could have been cleared of housing and industrial development. They could have kept old town New Orleans where it is, or move it north up the river above the delta region. Making the river a National Park would have allowed for better coastal fishing opportunities, and less insurance claims due to hurricanes in the delta region. Just because you can build a city somewhere, or if one existed there before is not justification for rebuilding a city destroyed by natural disaster, no matter how much of it was man made.

[@rcpmac]

Yup 👍. But too many vested interests to slow any sensible policy like that.

[@fredericrike5974]

Same problem in places like New Jersey too! And it's not that your plan might not work- heck ole Dick Cheney wanted to make an American Venice out of NO- carve several channels through it and make NO a bunch of little bride connected islands. Had some cute art work and all! That might have worked, also. But all of these things would undoubtedly change the cultural template of New Orleans- and my old NO neighbors are some of the strongest NIMBY folks I have ever known. And moving might be the best idea; if it cost the $300 billion to resurrect some are saying, it would cost three times that to move a city of 700,000 to high ground and "turn on the lights". FR

[@ScottFreemire]

Perhaps there is more than one way to accomplish what is needed. Off the coast of Normandy in France is a landmark island named Mont-Saint-Michel. Over time, sediment being washed in from the Atlantic and the English Channel was creating land that would eventually connect the island to the coast and ruin its charm. The local government addressed this by building a dam on the Couesnon River. This dam allows the tide water to flow in but only allows it to flow back out after the tide has receded for a while. This creates a fast outward flow that is steadily washing the sediment back to sea. Capturing sediment from the river in Louisiana is a very different challenge, but perhaps lessons from the success at Mont-Saint-Michel could lead to a design that harvests the needed sediment while allowing much of the fresh water to return to the river. A system like this might not impact the fishing waters as severely.

[@kennethferland5579]

What they need are a set of locks for ships to enter the river without letting water out, then just let the rest of the river overflow it's banks naturally and build the delta. This plan looks like only a partial fix as huge amounts of sediment will still go out the main channel.

[@scottfoster2487]

Would a dredging program of the Missippi River be cheaper to the environment? You could dredge silt and place it in smaller areas to allow islands of sill that would over time erode and add to weak areas.

[@hanleyk]

the river is deep. very. and moving fast. i always tell tourists to take the ferry in Chalmette, in car or pedestrian, and behold the grand force that is the Mississippi.

[@sitahsinrva]

( 5:00 )you can't have your cake and eat it too! At one point are you gambling your livelihoods verse the means that keeps your livelihoods in tact. The coalition against this project has really gotta dig down deep and understand that they've got to adapt to survive. Damn it hurts seeing solutions shot down because of folks that don';t know any better.

[@duanenavarre7234]

the fishermen were ignored which is the usual, the project is going forward, lots of money laundering I am sure.

[@ralphsammis7330]

Glad I’m not in the middle of that debate.

[@madameblackimusprime]

This is a great example of working against the land and not with it. We might have had serious mosquito issues but we could've been Swamp Venice!

[@koholohan3478]

Great video but you missed one thing: if fresh water doesn't percolate through the wetlands, it will reverse, and salt water comes in, killing mangrove forests, and when they go, the whole coast gives way. (Correction: other marsh plants, cypress and grasses, not mangroves)

[@cfuzzkennedy]

Mangroves do not grow here. We have zero mangroves in Louisiana. I think it’s too cool during the winter maybe.

[@koholohan3478]

@@cfuzzkennedy wow, you're right. Maybe it was other trees or grasses of some sort. I recall, but couldn't find the video, of a young man who goes around planting, what I though was mangroves, on the LA coastline to prevent erosion. There was a bit, where he rejected the label "environmentalist" because it wasn't so popular with most people there. Although apparently with the state experiencing fewer cold winter, the black mangrove has been expanding in the south part of the state. But the statement remains....just different vegetation that likes brackish water. When you channalize the river, less sediment and fresh water is added, and the flow reverses, the salinity raises, and kills a lot of the vegetation. Interestingly, as mangroves expand up the Florida coast with the increasingly warm climate, it pushes out oysters. They seem to not coexist.

[@koholohan3478]

@@cfuzzkennedy maybe it was cypress trees. Also, I'm seeing where the oil companies carved over 10,000 miles of canals for oil exploration, and did nothing to repair the damages, because they would rather the government (people) to pay to fix the problem. Not a surprise considering they are by far some of the biggest corporate welfare queens in the country, privatize the gains, socialize the losses.

[@TBullCajunbreadmaker]

Talk about a Catch-22 here for the people who live and depend on this "Land". If something like this diversion process is not done the people who are most dependent on it will not have ay land to speak of because the intrusion upon these land areas and surrounding marshes will be eaten away evetually. There will be no more land where it is today, just water. Although there will be a disruption of the eco system in this process it will eventually revert back to what it has been before. The sacrifices that this state made since the turn of the 20th century when the oil & gas industry began criss crossing the marsh with access canals for oil and gas operations has been a great sacrifice for so called progress. I worked in the oil & gas industry from 1971 to 2009. I worked right out of Venice and New Orleans and many different places all the way over to Corpus Christi. It was nothing for me to be in a helicopter or different sized boats every day. I have personally witnessed the changes that have occured in our wetlands here on a weekly basis and sometimes on a daily basis. I've seen where numerous dredges over the years have created large areas of new land. That works well but it is slow and I'm sure expensive. If something isn't done soon I might have the Gulf of Mexico in my back yard a lot sooner than expected. We have sacrificed for everyone that has used this state to make money, now it's time to make tyhe sacrifice to save our state and our own lives.

[@shadowvessel]

They've probably heard this a million times, but is there any way to inject the amount of salt needed into the river before it enters the bay? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@koharumi1]

I was hoping for more information about the project... And maybe a map of where it is?

[@tommyforet8069]

Plaquimines

[@tommyforet8069]

Plaquimines parish La create a new shipping channel into baretareia bay somewhere around mertal Grove. I can't spell to good . British petroleum (BP) gave La. Billions of dollars that have to be spent rebuilding Marsh.

[@chang-kp9sp]

It is similar to canal channel system in Chicago River . To protect downtown , flooding Des plaines river and other small stream that convergening . Sometimes decision need to be made for greater good.

[@greggv8]

Take the canals that run from New Orleans north to Lake Pontchartrain and cut them through the city to empty to the south. Much of them could be covered. That would allow silt to flow through to rebuild what has eroded due to the lake and river being contained for so long.

[@Rainy_Day12234]

Areas at or near sea level are forced to adapt to a changing climate…normal sea level rise since the end of the last ice age has dramatically changed coast lines and if man has an effect it’s only going to speed the process.

[@coffeehawk]

People just can't comprehend the ocean was 400 FEET lower 18,000 years ago.

[@debscamera2572]

What about using some regenerative agriculture principles? Plant trees that drop leaves, that attract birds that poop. The bird poop fertilizes the trees & encourages more plant growth. The plants grow, drink the water, build the soil, drop their leaves, attract more wildlife, and so on, and so on, and so on. The Florida Keys did a sea grass restoration project, where they put perches over the water, where they wanted the sea grass to grow back. The birds landed on the perches, and hung out there, and pooped a lot. The bird poop fertilized the sea grass beds, and they came back. It was not very expensive.

[@a2e5]

Real, mineral, sediments is a core part to how nature generates river deltas. Plant remains don’t have that sort of physical properties. Sea grass can help catch sediment, but there must be some to start with - so the army guys need to reverse the damage done by levees.

[@tommyhollier671]

I'm 59 years old when I was a kid I used to ride horses on my aunt's property cross the street was a big plantation called The Fleming plantation and whole bunch of places down in Lafitte they are now under five feet of water the Mississippi used to flood and the receipt did it for thousands of years and it built the Delta the old companies in the engineers and whoever have dreads that River to where it doesn't do that anymore that's why we're losing land hurricane saltwater encroachment it's simple we can do something about it and I'm glad to see somebody's trying do something about it

[@JustaReadingguy]

Maybe the simulations can predict where the new brackish waters and life will move, and help the fishing move with it.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

The fishermen just don’t want change. They will follow the schools as they always have as best they can.

[@infinitemonkey917]

@@twilightgardenspresentatio6384 They have a warranted concern. The fresh water will disrupt the brackish ecosystems but there is no other option to minimize erosion.

[@kennethjmurphy3364]

Maybe,... give me a break, anytime man thinks he's going to " fix " something he screws it up even worse. And I suspect that this is more about making money.

[@jeffbybee5207]

Think they should dredge the river and pump the dirt over the levee with relative little water

[@jonathandorr2234]

The most foolish assumptions, are based on a strong maybe

[@Vladviking]

The only way to go or I-10 will eventually be a sea crossing. Not only does this land erode it settles and sinks.

[@mattozx6rr]

So instead of fixing the issue at its source they choose to create a new issue. Thats government for ya. Removing the levees and returning the river to natural flow and flooding might just do a better job.

[@robertlin7333]

Just a suggestion, maybe an inland nearby aquaculture farm for all the various marine stock. Relief for fishermen who would rather just bail out and stakes for those who want to try it out when this goes through

[@louishermann7676]

I was in New Orleans for the hurricane, and was in Grand Isle around 5 days later, the first day it was actually accessible by road. Never seen anything like it. The wind had blown over nearly every structure, and the water eroded the foundations out from underneath concrete pads. Power lines from distribution and transmission poles were strung along the ground.

[@barbaracilley8200]

How about diverting part of the Mississippi West thru Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Would that help?

[@richg2881]

The sediment loss comes from the dams on the Missouri River mainstem and its tributaries.

[@apple-mz3rh]

It’s sucks liven on the coast in Louisiana but the bright side is that you can pop out a pontoon and go on a ride

[@markmclaughlin2690]

This not only impacts Barataria Bay it impacts the entire Mississippi Sound filling it with fresh water from the Mississippi River creating a huge dead zone in the summer from the coast of Louisiana across the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the Mobile Alabama Bay Area. Louisiana’s erosion problem will be come a Norther Gulf Coast problem from Barataria Bay Louisiana to Mobile Bay Alabama

[@jeanhawken4482]

Great work. Don’t get rid of your wetlands ever

[@openmindset1818]

The people that live off the land will still have to move and resettle most of them are older and cant just uproot. The land you want to create won't even be livable.

[@vadimtaver7234]

Very cool video and hopefully this yields some good results to help the state. It was also pretty rad to spot a Death Cab For Cutie shirt in a science video. Right on!

[@hanleyk]

ha! i caught the t-shirt too!

[@Power5]

4:10 explain to me how that can tell anything besides where adding sediment will accumulate in an unchanging river course built out of concrete. They are dropping sediment in, but they are not showing how the erosion is affecting the river at the same time. That sediment is coming from someplace in real life, not a tube dumping it into a concrete drainage ditch. But hey, they got 4 million to build a culvert and drop black sediment into it.

[@plebiansociety]

The first step should be a coastal barrier island system created by dredging. Dredge channels and stack the sediment, allow a berm to naturally form and let the sediment fill. Keep doing rows and rows inland then build a sediment diversion from the river system. Without flooding sediment diversion is useless, it will only take it to water level, a version of moving the submerged sediment above water level is going to be needed. Most of south Louisiana was built either when sea levels were much higher or by flooding caused by the end of the ice age. The brakes need to be applied to coastal erosion first and a barrier island system would also achieve this. It would also provide storm protection which is also greatly needed.

[@eprofessio]

The scariest thing you will ever hear is “ I am from the government and I’m here to help.

[@ryancappo]

Yes, Reagan broke this country by saying that stupid quote.

[@eprofessio]

@@ryancappo Reagan was an actor. That about sums it up.

[@r.s.3320]

How about an update on how this is doing?

[@tihspidtherekciltilc5469]

Fly at 25,000 feet and tell me man can manipulate the climate. I live on a sandbar that was created by a hurricane before tea was thrown into Boston Harbor. Reuse, repurpose and recycle and carry out what you brought in which apparently is too difficult for some visitors to our small town.

[@johnathanpreston2676]

Have you ever thought about using beavers, introducing them back to the swamps?

[@rcpmac]

Closing the barn door after the horses have escaped. With the now inevitable sea level changes even this investment in land building is futile. ALL of these restored lowlands will be submerged before the bonds for financing this project are paid off. Smartest thing to do buyout the residents and abandon the land

[@Daniel-gb7dm]

is there sand dredging happening off the coast? I'm surprised nobody ever links this to coastline loss

[@craigoutdoors30]

I worked there 9 months after Katrina. Helped a fisherman out with OSU ATI. God saved that family.

[@kelleren4840]

Nope. Luck, and you did.

[@BrandonBeans]

What happened to all those fish he was shoveling after he picked the few shrimp out of his catch? @6:03

[@briskyproland2044]

The lands changing everywhere rising and lowering; not just glazier melt is adding to changes in water levels everywhere. Its novel idea but getting on regrouping into mega structures with vegitation areas on roofs and such would be our best bet to grow with the changing position of the plates. The land could use a rest from us trampeling it.

[@ricklichau9176]

Well, the idea to replicate nature is great. So, how does this system handle the dramatic rise in sea level? Seems like a big deal. Several feet in the next 50 years.

[@rcpmac]

Absolutely correct. They should abandon the land

[@articmars1]

As long as they let oil companies come in and cut canals for their rigs and not make them fill them back in no matter how much money you throw at it it wont work.

[@halweilbrenner9926]

Coastal west coast (Caif.) Has eroding beaches. 20 years ago it had 80 yards of beach. Now no beach.

[@peterthomson6161]

They are going to end up spending millions to transport the sediment to the needed area because the sediment will settle blocking the outlet.

[@Deeplycloseted435]

This just seems like more human shit, which is why this is all happening in the first place. The location of the mouth of the river should vary wildly, as it naturally has for millions of years. Thats why all of those wet lands exist over such a broad area. I think it is catastrophically stupid to do gigantic civil engineering projects in a location that will be under the ocean in 100 years anyway. WHAT are we doing? So are we going to pump river water across the country so we can keep farming and living in the desert also? This isn’t some tributary or local river, its the watershed for most of this huge country, and one of the largest rivers in the world. If this doesn’t go well?

[@grimftl]

Ironically, Barataria is the island promised to Sancho Panza to govern by Don Quixote - which did not exist. If things don't move quickly, Barataria may well be a fictional island.

[@ryancappo]

They should be talking about building a lock system and moving all of the excess fresh water over to Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas to deal with the drought problem. Take the dirt and fish out of the water first and reduce the amount of fresh water going into the coastal areas and everyone is happy.

[@dinahendrix9467]

Yes but Silt is building up in a river in north Louisiana and causing major problems.

[@thebuddha4208]

Jesus Christ no way it needs to take that long and cost that much

[@seanc6754]

really sucks for the fisherman because the government doesn't care about your livelihood they only care how much more land they have because that equals more money to them. also engineers want to build that project and they will say anything so that they can they don't care about your livelihoods just like when they originally diverted the Mississippi.. they want their names attached to the project to further their own careers at the cost of yours

[@blakespower]

where is all the sediment going now? it has to be building up somewhere

[@SamsungGalaxy-nm5qt]

If all the fresh water will destroy the salt water habitat for the shrimp and oysters, just engineer a way to salinate it. California desalination plants have the problem of not having anywhere to put the byproduct of desalination, which is sea salt. Using this to salinate the fresh water from the Mississippi River may be a solution (pun intended). We are one country: let's work together on this one.

[@hotdogstandman]

Good point

[@kitchenbriks3685]

Basically if you live in a coastal area expect your land to get destroyed or even disappear. It's called nature and it's how our planet evolves.

[@johnkaplun9619]

It's called climate change, levees, and dredging, and it's entirely a man made problem.

[@SoloRenegade]

sea level rise caused this? how much has the sea level risen in Louisiana in teh last 200yrs, exactly?

[@armystrongbone]

No they want to make you think that in the opening but later admit its erosion!

[@m_v5460]

So moral of the story don’t purchase any prop in Louisiana from the Lake Front on downward. The people here would rather see there own homes flooded and torn apart then ever do anything worth while trying to better the situation they’ve put themselves into.

[@AlwaysRight1111]

The lady at the end added zero value. What was the point in having her barely read that one line?