Flooding was a problem for settlers in the delta, as a result levees were constructed.  River was also highly engineering to improve shipping and navigation.

Economy flourished after installment of levees.  Flooding disasters were reduced, and development expanded into low-lying lands that had previously been prone to flooding. Oil and gas exploration also boomed.

Construction of levees, plus canals and extraction from oil & gas industry, has resulted in detrimental land loss.  Subsidence (sinking of the land) has greatly increased, sediment supply has been cut off, and sea level rise is accelerating.

Losing a football field an hour. 

Restoration efforts are underway, and the state plans to implement a brand-new strategy: sediment diversions.  These would use the power of the river, much in the same way as the river used to build land, by flooding onto the delta and depositing sediment upon the sinking land. Learn how much land the state is loosing, what is behind the loss and how groups are hoping to correct the problem.