Mississippi River loses most of its ‘white gold’ before reaching Gulf
A team of researchers from Tulane University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette pose for a portrait on a dock in Venice, Louisiana, with the PS-200 isokinetic sediment sampler used to collect water samples from the Mississippi River on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Courtesy Stacey Plaisance, Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk)
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Mississippi River Basin Ag and Water Desk
This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in partnership with Report For America and funded by the Walton Family Foundation.
Sand, silt and clay is essential to rebuilding — or, at this point, maintaining — the fragile coastline that has been receding for decades. But less than 10% of the Mississippi River’s sediment reaches the critical Bird’s Foot Delta.
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Mississippi River Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water DeskIn partnership with
This story is a product of the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, an editorially independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in partnership with Report For America and funded by the Walton Family Foundation.
Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk
The Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk is an independent reporting network based at the University of Missouri, in partnership with Report For America and the Society of Environmental Journalists, funded by the Walton Family Foundation. The Daily Memphian is a member of the reporting network.
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