LSU Center for River Studies — Water Campus

Twenty ceiling-mounted projectors light a 10,000-square-foot physical model of the Mississippi River Delta. Pumps push actual water and sediment through 179 miles of river recreated at exact scale. You watch storm surge, sediment flow, and coastal land loss play out in real time across the miniature coast. Louisiana loses roughly a football field of coastline every 100 minutes. This is the most tangible way to understand why. The model is the centerpiece of the LSU Center for River Studies, housed in the Water Campus — a $1.5 billion mixed-use research district on the downtown riverfront. The campus is anchored by LSU, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and The Water Institute of the Gulf. These are the institutions working out what the state plans to do about the disappearing coast, and this exhibit makes their work visible to anyone who walks in. Free admission. Guided presentations at 2pm and 4pm on First Free Sundays. Located at 1110 River Road South.