The Mississippi River Delta is a vast natural asset, a basis for national employment and economic productivity. Yet, this vast national economic asset is being squandered at tremendous cost. The Mississippi Delta lost over 1.2 million acres of land in the last 80 years—in some areas, the coastline has retreated by as much as 30 miles. Since the 1930s, the lower Mississippi River has been constricted by levees, resulting in billions of tons of valuable sediment and trillions of gallons of valuable freshwater being channeled into deep water.
The Mississippi River Delta ecosystems provide at least $12-47 billion in benefits to people every year. If this natural capital were treated as an economic asset, the delta’s minimum asset value would be $330 billion to $1.3 trillion (3.5% discount rate). This study is the most comprehensive measure of the economic value of Mississippi River Delta natural systems to date. Marine waters, wetlands, swamps, agricultural lands and forests provide natural goods and services. The goods and ecosystem services valued in this study include hurricane and flood protection, water supply, water quality, recreation and fisheries.
Large-scale diversions of water and sediment from the Mississippi River could reconnect it to the delta, restore deltaic processes to maintain a net expansion of land. It would support a larger natural asset base and yearly provide ecosystem services, including hurricane buffering. Restoration offers the greatest benefits in safety, economic viability and habitability of the Mississippi River Delta, but is also the most resilient.
Photo by Vilseskogen.