Restoration of the Mississippi Delta: Lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
John W. Day, Jr.,1*
Donald F. Boesch,2
Ellis J. Clairain,3
G. Paul Kemp,4
Shirley B. Laska,5
William J. Mitsch,6
Kenneth Orth,7
Hassan Mashriqui,8
Denise J. Reed,9
Leonard Shabman,10
Charles A. Simenstad,11
Bill J. Streever,12
Robert R. Twilley,1
Chester C. Watson,13
John T. Wells,14
Dennis F. Whigham15
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.
1 Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
2 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Post Office Box 775, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA.
3 Engineer Research and Development Center, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, MS 39180, USA.
4 The Hurricane Center, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
5 Department of Sociology, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA.
6 Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, The Ohio State University, 352 West Dodridge Street, Columbus, OH 43202, USA.
7 Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22315, USA.
8 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA.
9 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148, USA.
10 Resources for the Future, 1616 P Street, NW, Washington, DC20036, USA.
11 School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, Box 355020, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98015, USA.
12 BP Exploration (Alaska), Post Office Box 196612, Anchorage, AK 99519-6612, USA.
13 Engineering Research Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
14 Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Box 1346, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA.
15 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Box 28, Edgewater, MD 21037, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: johnday{at}lsu.edu
