Restoration of the Mississippi Delta: Lessons from hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Abstract
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed the vulnerability of coastal communities and how human activities that caused deterioration of the Mississippi Deltaic Plain (MDP) exacerbated this vulnerability. The MDP formed by dynamic interactions between river and coast at various temporal and spatial scales, and human activity has reduced these interactions at all scales. Restoration efforts aim to re-establish this dynamic interaction, with emphasis on reconnecting the river to the deltaic plain. Science must guide MDP restoration, which will provide insights into delta restoration elsewhere and generally into coasts facing climate change in times of resource scarcity.
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Wetlands losses in the Mississippi Deltaic Plain have been 65-100 km2 per year due to reduced sedimentation and subsidence caused by oil and gas extraction and groundwater withdrawal.
“The reduced sedimentation, and both natural and accelerated subsidence caused by extraction of oil and gas, and withdrawal of groundwater, have resulted in wetlands losses of 65–100 km2 per year [90].”
From North American Wetlands and Mosquito Control (2012) · cites this paper as [90]
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“sedimentation, and both natural and accelerated subsidence caused by extraction of oil and gas, and withdrawal of groundwater, have resulted in wetlands losses of 65–100 km(2) per year [90].”
Background
- Authors
- Day, J. W., Boesch, D. F., Clairain, E. J., Kemp, G. P., Laska, S. B., Mitsch, W. J., Orth, K., Mashriqui, H., Reed, D. J., Shabman, L., Simenstad, C. A., Streever, B. J., Twilley, R. R., Watson, C. C., Wells, J. T., & Whigham, D. F.
- Affiliations
- Louisiana State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Day, John W.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2007-03-23
- Volume
- 315
- Issue
- 5819
- Pages
- 1679-1684
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2126231593
- Cited by
- 846
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 39 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 28 · 2021: 49 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 62 · 2018: 45 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 58 · 2015: 51 · 2014: 54 · 2013: 64 · 2012: 42
- FWCI
- 2.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Civil War Book Review (submittedVersion)
- Smithsonian Digital Repository (Smithsonian Institution) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Coastal and Marine Dynamics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Geological formations and processes
- Keywords
- Mississippi Deltaic Plain, coastal restoration, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, coastal vulnerability, human impact on coasts, climate change adaptation, delta restoration
- MeSH terms
- Disasters, Engineering, Environment, Geography, Humans, Louisiana, Mississippi, Soil, Ecosystem, Geologic Sediments, Rivers, Wetlands
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