The Delta

The Delta

I've spoken much about the delta, and I'll only add a few key points

Number one is the work of sediment on the Mississippi River Delta. A river delta is famous for the amount of sediment it deposits. After traveling for thousands of miles, the river gains sediments, and as it reaches its lower altitudes it slows down. At the end of its journey, slow, full of sediments, it empties its contents, creating a delta. Over years, all of southeastern Louisiana was created, including the 'duck foot' delta I work on.

Man's control over the river has created many conservation problems. Dredging deep channels have forced the normally shallow slow waters to increase in speed. This causes the sediment that normally would deposit itself all throughout the delta, to shoot off the continental shelf (the deep waters of the ocean). Land is literally disappearing from Louisiana. The land that normal gets replaced by more sediment, now just erodes from the waves. Maps created a month ago, now show land and channels that don't exist anymore. This is especially true in the Pass-a-Loutre Channel.

Head of passes has three man made channels: Southwest Pass, the major shipping channel where all major liners traverse from the Gulf of Mexico. South Pass, the former major shipping channel, that is now used by smaller vessels. Pass-a-Loutre, a former channel that hasn't been dredged in years. It's been scrapped to allow parts of the delta to return to their natural state. This pass is a wild changing ride. The channel, now with active sedimentation, will abruptly change to 1 foot of water, than back to 8 feet. It requires a strong knowledge of the pass or a depth finder. The mouth of the pass changes weekly. Sedimentation causes land to disappear, leaving your GPS worthless as you try to find an opening on your own. Our big boat can't go out this way, as we can't find a way through it. Our mudmotor can easily, as it can ride in 6 inches of water. The area around Pass-a-loutre is never deep. The bays are one foot to three foot for miles. MILES. You can walk a mile or more out from shore, and never get above your waist. It's nuts. Before we had a range finder, I thought I was in the deep ocean, just to find I could jump off and touch the bottom.

Two is the man made control over the Delta. The Mississippi's current tendency is not to go through New Orleans. The path it wants to take is almost 200 miles southeast of New Orleans in the Atchafalaya River Delta. The channel in New Orleans is strictly maintained, as it currently is a major hub and port of commerce. Recently, they've allowed a tributary of water to flow into Atchafalaya, returning a portion of this management area's sedimentation and ecology to it's previous state.

The loss of land is a big conservation concern down in Louisiana, but no one seems to have a good idea what to do about it. The channels need to be maintained for commerce, but the shore is literally shrinking from Louisiana because of it. There have been ideas tried, like a million dollar sand berm built off the coast, that washed away after a month.