re: Mississippi River diverging: When do we finally let it go down the Atchafalaya?

It's not just New Orleans, it's all the petrochemical infrastructure up and down the river. It would be a major national disruption. Not something you want to do unless you have to. There are ways to divert part the flow and achieve some of the goals without a major catastrophe, the problem is for every winner there are losers who don't want their rice bowl broken. For instance, oyster fishermen have been holding up the Barataria diversion project because they think it would hurt their livelihood.