The Delta & Floods-Cause,Effect and a Solution.
From an editorial in today's Los Angeles Times, a good solution
to the man made imbalance of the ecosystem on the Mississippi River Delta.
One of the most effective shore defenses has been not only ignored but undermined. Barrier islands and the marshes of the Mississippi River Delta used to present hurricanes with a formidable land barrier to cross before reaching New Orleans. But the very levees and canals that protect New Orleans and provide navigation divert replenishing sediment. Louisiana loses about 24 square miles of this land barrier each year.
A plan backed by environmentalists, industry and the Corps of Engineers would spend $2 billion to dredge sediment from the Gulf to be used in rebuilding the land, and divert some river sediment toward the marshland. Congress should not only approve that project but should start giving serious consideration to the rest of a $14-billion coastal restoration project supported by 11 state and federal agencies.
Canals and Levees caused loss of protective land barriers.
By diverting the silt from depositing in the marshes
of the Delta, the levees and canals have caused the erosion
of land to the entire area. This land acted as
a natural barrier to slow down any hurricane.