Mississippi River Delta Environmental Issues

Words: 1721
Pages: 7
Open Document
The Mississippi River Delta has been a plethora of natural wealth since the early 18th century. With soil so naturally fertile and an ecosystem so naturally diverse, its potential to flourish could be compared to that of Chicago before its development as the Gateway City to the Great West (Cronon 263-309). However, human interaction with the Mississippi River Delta in combination with several natural, unexpected occurrences has led to a severely damaged region. Because of continuous man-made alterations to the river’s path, severe erosion has led to the deterioration of the riverbanks and also of the land on which large populations base their careers. In recent years, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have only accelerated the subsidence of the entire …show more content…
Because of the heavy and diverse immigration into New Orleans, the city became very different from the rest of the state of Louisiana. The white population had its roots in French-speaking Cajun culture, whereas there was a very evident blend of immigrant cultures, as well (Jackson). This diversity split the region into social status – low class minorities remained in the inner city while higher earning citizens moved to the suburbs. With this division came new opinions on how nature should be treated. 1814 saw the first debates over levee buildings, accompanied with alternate options to levees such as artificial outlets called spillways (“Timeline: The Fatal Flood”). Needless to say, it was years before these opinions started to really make an impact. Almost in a juxtaposition, not shortly after these debates began, Charles Percy rose to power by means of massive cotton production (“Timeline: The Fatal Flood”). With massive cotton production comes the need to protect the cotton fields from flooding – hence, the building of more levees. By 1858, over 1,000 miles of levees extended along the Mississippi River (Coleman). Eventually, the debates from the citizens were heard, hence the formation of the Mississippi River Commission in 1879. Dominated by the Army Corps of Engineers, the MRC was demanded by Congress to “…develop plans to improve the condition of the Mississippi River, foster navigation, promote commerce, and prevent destructive floods—perhaps the most difficult and complex engineering problem ever undertaken by the federal government up to that time” (“Mississippi River
Show More

Related Documents: Mississippi River Delta Environmental Issues

Oyster lovers, Here’s Why you’re “Shelling” Out More Clams Essay

Environmental Final Paper EG481 Oyster lovers, Here’s Why you’re “Shelling” Out More Clams Oyster aficionados have painfully felt the sharp increase in price for their favorite delicacy for the past few years. Most consumers believe that the steep price increase is due to the oil contaminates and the related chemicals that were used to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The common consensus is that the oysters have been…

Words 708 - Pages 3

The Atchafalaya Summary

The Mississippi Becoming the Atchafalaya In the article, “The Atchafalaya,” written by John McPhee he describes one of the major events that is now taking place. The article was written to inform us on how the Mississippi River will soon be taken over by the Atchafalaya. It is also describing all the human projects that have taken place to try and help the control of the water itself. This river caused many effects on places, people, and other factors that were around it. Some of the other major…

Words 2134 - Pages 9

Louisinana Purchase Essay

The Louisiana Purchase Abstract The territory that America holds today has not always been hers. Some of the territory was acquired after military interventions while others are from voluntary associations of the residents living in these territories. In some cases the territory was acquired financially, and the Louisiana Purchase is a prime example of this type of territorial acquisition. President Jefferson encouraged and oversaw the acquisition of the territory in 1803 from France. The…

Words 1964 - Pages 8

American Indian Environmental Issue Essay

Conditions SHEPARD KRECH III on Reflections Conservation, and Sustainability, in Environmentalism Indigenous NorthAmerica ABSTRACT Building a range issues on of in Indian: and and in presented initiallyTheEcological Myth History, debated subsequently reviews various and this in to traditional environmental oral conservation papers, article ranges widely time address knowledge, history, and sustainability, environmentalism in Indian I also offer and on theinvolvementNative…

Words 6460 - Pages 26

Essay On Humanitarian Transport

LOG Transport Definition In the context of humanitarian organisations transport is defined as: “The activities involved in moving supplies from point of origin to internal customers or beneficiaries”. The aim of transport is to physically move supplies in a reliable and safe manner, on time, cost effectively and efficiently to its destination. Policies The rapid growth of technology and the changes in the delivery of humanitarian aid has done little to change the fact that relief supplies still have…

Words 5834 - Pages 24

Managing Information Technology (7th Edition) Essay

from the Microsoft Corporation. This book is not sponsored or endorsed by or affiliated with the Microsoft Corporation. Copyright ©2012, 2009, 2005, 2002, 1999 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system…

Words 239873 - Pages 960