A CRITIQUE OF DELTA RESTORATION ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA - ABSENCE OF PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY?

The Mississippi River delta is 2.7 million acres and is losing about 10-32 square miles of land each year. This area is home to 8.9 million people. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina created significant and long-lasting economic hardship and displaced many individuals. Since then, much of the city of New Orleans has been rebuilt; however, Louisiana’s communities have yet to fully recover. Many have been permanently displaced from New Orleans and Louisiana continues to have the nation’s highest poverty rates. Many restoration projects are in place, such as shoreline, ridge, barrier island, marsh, hydrological restorations and planned channel diversions. Provided here is an examination of how socio-economic and political factors impact coastal restoration. A key observation made is that the focus of restoration efforts is on environmental protection and restoration, with less attention to developing community economic resiliency. The continued erasure of societal struggles in restoration practices is problematic. The sustained impact of land loss, sea level rise, human interference, and systematic discrimination is slowly brewing a disaster that will result in significant human displacement. Are we choosing to save the delta while risking permanent displacement and erasure of its unique communities and cultures?