Listen to Louisianan Simone Maloz gush over the mighty Neptune, and you might think she is talking about a new band or a Mardi Gras krewe. “It’s blowing up. It’s unbelievable!”
In fact, Simone is referencing Neptune Pass, a section of the Mississippi River that is showing the potential power of one of the Gulf Coast’s greatest resources — the river itself.
For half a century on Louisiana’s coast, a combination of climate-fueled mega-storms and man-made engineering have conspired to swallow a football field size of coastal land every 100 minutes. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost over 2,000 square miles of land, an area roughly the size of Delaware.
But at Neptune Pass, she says, the river is showing us its power to create.
“For a long time, we tried to contain the Mississippi, and we have felt the consequences of that,” says Simone, who serves as campaign director of Restore the Mississippi River Delta, a coalition of nonprofits focused on the environmental and economic impacts of coastal land loss in Louisiana.
But following a number of high-water events at Neptune Pass prior to 2019, the river wanted out of its straitjacket main channel. It forged a shortcut through a natural opening. Silty lobes of new delta have begun to emerge from the water.
“Neptune has shown us the power of the river and the sediment it contains," Simone says.
“Neptune Pass is an example of a nature-based solution in action. It has shown us that major change can happen in a matter of years, not decades, if we work with the river and manage the river responsibly.”
Simone says natural changes like the one happening at Neptune Pass, alongside nature-based, record-breaking projects like the $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, are all pieces of a complex puzzle to maintain and restore the great North American delta for the long term. “We can’t just do one thing. We don’t have that luxury. We have to do them all,” she says.
The Walton Family Foundation has long supported nature-based conservation solutions to secure a long-term future for people and communities along the Mississippi River.
Since 2007, strong coalitions of support have resulted in a comprehensive Coastal Master Plan for Louisiana that has so far constructed over 70 miles of barrier islands and berms and 369 miles of levee improvements benefitting nearly 56,000 acres of land.
Those impressive statistics do not include the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, which broke ground last summer after a decade of negotiation. It is a bold idea born out of necessity — the largest ecosystem restoration project in U.S. history.
These conservation successes are due in no small part to the work of passionate advocates like Simone. A native Louisianan, she has been advocating for large-scale restoration projects for more than 19 years.
In early 2023, Simone was named a Louisianan of the Year by Louisiana Life for her contributions to restoring coastal wetlands.
But the work is nowhere near done. Currently, Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has 107 active projects in the planning and construction phases. The state needs to maintain about $1 billion a year in coastal projects to keep pace.
“We have been able to achieve these really big milestones and we’ve been successful because, in Louisiana, protecting the coast is protecting our way of life. No matter what party you belong to, you can see Louisianans rally to support restoring and protecting our coast,” Simone says.
“While we have accomplished a tremendous amount, we aren’t dropping any ‘Mission Accomplished’ banners yet. There is no status quo in Louisiana, whether in terms of funding, natural disasters, or our own policy. What we have is people like me who grew up here, with a shared passion. We have a great story to tell about our importance to the Gulf Coast and the nation. And we have science on our side.”
At Neptune Pass, scientific data has played a big role in letting the river begin to rebuild.
“The changes at Neptune were happening so quickly that we needed the science to back it up to make sure this wasn’t a fluke,” says Simone.
“There were actually some people who wanted to close that channel because the flow away from the river that created the new land was impacting navigation. The science that the Walton Family Foundation supported allowed us to say, ‘Wait! We need to take a deeper look at what’s happening! This is a good thing. We can balance both navigation and restoration.’”
Beyond the coastal protection and ecosystem benefits, each new project also serves as an engine for the state economy.
Mid-Barataria alone is expected to support 12,400 jobs, alongside all the local spending those workers bring to the community.
“These coastal projects are huge economic drivers. Folks are familiar with product distribution facilities in terms of economic development. Well, we are building Mississippi River distribution facilities,” says Simone. “For these projects to be successful, we've created an entire network of coastal career pathways. These are jobs that pay well and can last a lifetime, because coastal restoration is always going to be important.”
As the work to protect Louisiana continues, Simone believes their lasting public-private partnerships at the local, state and federal level could serve as a blueprint for communities upriver and around the world facing the realities of climate change.
“The people we train here in Louisiana, and the model we have built, can work anywhere.”
The Mississippi River has never, and will never, be the same. But for Simone and advocates like her, its dynamism is part of what makes it special.
“We’ve been given this amazing resource. The right thing to do now, and for the future, is to reinforce the areas that are healthy and thriving. Build levees and raise homes in those areas where they are vulnerable and reconnect to our best resource – the Mississippi River – as best we can. But a future without action? That’s not one we can think about.”
