Rerouting the Mississippi River

Rerouting the Mississippi River could build new land—and save a retreating coast

The state of Louisiana plans to divert sed­i­ment from the Mis­sis­sip­pi Riv­er into Barataria Bay, cre­at­ing an esti­mat­ed 54 square kilo­me­ters of marsh­land over the next half-cen­tu­ry. GERRIT VYN/NPL/MINDEN PICTURES