re: Louisiana Coastal Erosion.

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the Corps of engeneers has diverted all the sediment from shallow marsh and river to very deep water

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this isnt exactly true. the river is actually going through aggredation in southwest pass up to about empire. this means most sediment is being dumped IN the river and only a very small percentage of it makes to to the gulf. the river is filling itself in because it has no slope and is hydraulically inefficient. it is why the corps has to dredge more and more out each year to maintain channel depth. read about the recent natural creation of mardi gras pass. the river is trying to find ways out further north.

quote:

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The amount of sediment coming down the river is half that of in the 1930s, heavily due to dams.

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true BUT its still measured in hundreds of millions of tons per year and will be at that level for several hundred more years. i once heard an analogy that is quite appropriate about the sediment load debate: "rejecting the sediment in the river because its less than previous centuries is like rejecting powerball winnings because somebody hit a bigger jackpot last year"