Thanks, guys - and especially you, Mike.
You raise another question. Who decided to dredge up the bays and build the levees? (I think I know, but I don't want to rely on even an educated guess)
The MS and Atchafalaya River Levees were originally an ARMY Corps project. Since Hurricane Katrina, Parish (county) level agencies have begun building surge protection levees all across the coast. The levees have flood gates that remain open until high water threatens. These levees are changing the hydrology and biology of the waters that surround them in ways that won't be fully understood for years.
