Wax Lake Delta — Where Louisiana Is Growing

Acadiana is built on land that is disappearing. Barrier islands erode, wetlands turn to open water, the Gulf creeps inland. The Army Corps of Engineers dug a flood relief channel from the Atchafalaya River in 1941; after the 1973 flood, new ground rose above the surface of Atchafalaya Bay. The Atchafalaya and Wax Lake deltas have grown by a combined one square mile per year since. Scientists call it a living laboratory — the only place in Louisiana where researchers can watch a delta form in real time. The lesson: let the river carry its sediment to shallow water and get out of the way. Accessible by boat from Morgan City. Not open for casual visitation — best understood from aerial photography or research tours. What you're looking at is land being born, not land being remembered.