Changing Course: navigating the future of the Lower Mississippi River

Changing Course is a design competition to reimagine a more sustainable Lower Mississippi River Delta, bringing teams together from around the world to create innovative visions for one of America’s greatest natural resources. Building off of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan, and answering a key question from that plan, three winning teams (Baird & Associates, Moffatt & Nichol and Studio Misi-Ziibi) have generated designs for how the Mississippi River’s water and sediment can be used to maximize rebuilding of delta wetlands while also continuing to meet the needs of navigation, flood protection, and coastal industries and communities.

While each of the winning teams offered a different vision, all three identified the same key requirements as critical to sustaining the Mississippi River Delta today and into the future:

• Reconnecting the Mississippi River to its wetlands to help restore southeast Louisiana’s first line of defense against powerful storms and rising sea levels.
• Planning for a more sustainable delta, including a gradual shift in population to create more protected and resilient communities.
• Protecting and maximizing the region’s port and maritime activities, including a deeper more sustainable navigation channel upriver from Southwest Pass.
• Increasing economic opportunities in a future smaller delta through expanding shipping capacity, coastal restoration infrastructure, outdoor recreation and tourism and commercial fishing.

This session will give a high level overview of the design competition process, results and common themes, similarities and differences in their designs, and how the ideas generated will inform coastal stakeholders and official government processes.