Research proceding in geologic time

The longer it takes us to figure this stuff out, the less Louisiana will be left to save if that's even possible anymore.

For decades the solution to the state’s coastal land loss seemed simple: Just punch a few holes in Mississippi River levees and let the mud-rich water spill out over marshes to build new land.

After all, that’s just what the river did for millennia before those mud walls went up after the epic 1927 flood.

But as the first in-depth study of the lower river in 50 years pushes past its mid-way point, the scientists involved have a few words of advice: It isn’t that easy — not even close.