Coastal Protection and
Restoration Authority

Coastal Crisis

Communities and Livelihoods at Risk

Every day Louisiana citizens are affected by our land loss catastrophe. Whether it’s a family forced to leave a cherished community to move out of harm’s way, a local businesses that has trouble obtaining insurance, or investments that lose value because of uncertainty about the future of our landscape, Louisiana’s land loss disaster takes a heavy toll.

What Continued Land Loss Means

Land loss in Louisiana is caused by many different factors, both natural and man-made.

Levees and floodgates on the Mississippi River have successfully provided national flood control and economic benefits. But these forms of river management have also channeled the Mississippi River and its tributaries into the Gulf of Mexico, depriving the coastal ecosystem of the fresh water and sediment it needs to survive.

Dredging canals for oil and gas exploration and pipelines provided our nation with critical energy supplies, but these activities also took a toll on the landscape, weakening marshes and allowing salt water to spread higher into coastal basins.

Sea level rise, subsidence, storms, and invasive species add further stress.