Not only that, but if a levee on the south side of the river were to fail, it could well end up cutting a new channel for the river - that is what the Old River structure and the Morgana spillway are meant to try and prevent. The distance to the Gulf via the Atchafalaya is half that of the main river channel. And that is a powerful difference - the river wants to go that way, and only man-made structures are preventing it.
You’re exactly right. The Mississippi will be captured by the Atchafalaya, its just a question of time. The shorter distance means that the slope along the Atchafalaya is greater and the river wants a steeper slope to more efficiently carry all the water and sediment load. Keeping the river in its channel all these years has raised the bed of the river in its lower reaches and reduced the overall slope. The river doesn’t like it, and someday during a flood event, it will find a path to the Atchafalaya and that will become the new route to the Gulf. That’s how the Delta was built over many millennia.
And, someday, Morgan City will rise out of a historic flood...and become the next N'awlins.
Had a good coonass buddy from Morgan City. He told me that everybody in town knows its going to happen...some day.
But nobody wants to be the next N'Awlins. But a big Lafayette...???