DeltaFlux

About the team

DeltaFlux is an interdisciplinary team combining environmental science, pollution management, spatial analysis, and design. We bring expertise in pollution processes, risk assessment, landscape systems, and nature-based solutions. Our drive is to restore natural fluxes of water, sediment, and ecological functions to reduce environmental risk and support resilient, just futures for vulnerable delta communities. We are motivated to translate science into scalable, implementable impact.

Our vision

The Mississippi River Delta LIFE along the Gulf Coast depends on the Mississippi River Delta. This vast network of rivers, wetlands, marshes, and barrier islands feeds millions, supports industry and transport, and protects communities from storms. The delta is not fixed land, it is a living system shaped by water and sediment. For thousands of years, seasonal floods spread sediment across floodplains, built marshes, filtered pollutants, and created some of the most productive ecosystems on Earth. The Threats to the Delta Today, that natural balance has been disrupted. Levees and river channelization prevent sediment from reaching wetlands. Industrial corridors and urban expansion have increased ecological pressure. As land sinks and sea levels rise, saltwater intrudes inland, storms intensify, and marshes disappear. Communities face higher flood risks and unequal exposure to environmental hazards. Without intervention, large portions of the delta could be lost within this century. A Delta Designed to Survive Yet the delta contains its own solutions. When rivers reconnect to wetlands, sediment rebuilds land. Marsh plants stabilize soil and trap nutrients. Barrier islands reduce wave energy. Floodplains absorb excess water and release it gradually. These natural processes store carbon, support biodiversity, and reduce disaster risk, if allowed to function. DeltaFlux ,Let the River Rebuild DeltaFlux restores natural fluxes. Controlled sediment diversions reconnect the Mississippi to sediment-starved basins. Wetlands are restored to filter water and support fisheries. Floodplains are reopened to manage seasonal floods. Agriculture adapts to flood-compatible practices. Infrastructure shifts toward elevated, resilient, and renewable systems. By 2120, the Mississippi River Delta thrives again, not through heavier engineering, but through partnership with nature. The river builds. The wetlands protect. The delta endures.

Our inventory & analysis

The Mississippi River Delta. A Living Landscape The Mississippi River Delta is not one uniform region but a mosaic of geomorphological systems shaped by sediment, water flow, and coastal dynamics. From the Chenier Plain in the west to the active Bird’s Foot Delta in the east, each basin reflects different natural processes, sediment deposition, subsidence, wave action, and tidal exchange. Floodplains, marshes, barrier islands, and distributary channels define how water moves and how land is built or lost. Natural & Human Pressures Natural factors such as subsidence, sea-level rise, storm intensity, sediment supply, and salinity gradients vary across basins. At the same time, human interventions. Levees, navigation channels, oil and gas infrastructure, urban development, and agricultural drainage, have altered hydrological connectivity and reduced sediment distribution. Land loss, wetland degradation, salinization, and flood risk are most severe in sediment-starved basins such as Barataria and Terrebonne, while industrial corridors face cumulative environmental exposure. Challenges & Opportunities The greatest challenge is restoring sediment delivery while protecting communities. Yet the delta retains strong natural capacity for regeneration. Reconnecting river and wetland systems, strengthening barrier islands, and redesigning land use around natural processes offer powerful, nature-based opportunities for resilience and equitable adaptation.