The Mississippi River1.) The natural process that occurred is the erosion of the land between the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River. If erosion and flooding continue, the water will destroy the land and everything there. For years the headwaters of the Atchafalaya River were blocked by a huge “raft” — a 30-mile-long log jam — defining settlers' efforts to remove it. In 1839, the State of Louisiana began removing the raft and opening the river. like a free and navigable flow. The removal of the log jam provided the opportunity for the Atchafalaya River to widen, becoming deeper and wider and carrying more and more Mississippi flow. The Atchafalaya River offered the Mississippi a shorter outlet to the Gulf of Mexico – 142 miles compared to 315 – and by 1951 it was evident that unless something was done soon, the Mississippi would take the course of the Atchafalaya . ) Design engineers have proposed a plan to dam the natural waterway Old River and build two control structures, one that works at all times and at every stage, and one that works only during floods. A lock was also included to preserve navigation between the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya-Red River system. The Old River control structures were to be operated to maintain the flow and sediment distribution between the lower Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River at approximately the same proportions that occurred naturally in 1950. This distribution was determined to be equal to approximately 30% of the total latitude flow (combined flow in the Red River and Mississippi above control structures) flowing down the Atchafalaya River on an annual basis.3.) If the Mississippi River changed course, it would transform the current river channel into a saltwater estuary and the effects on Louisiana would be catastrophic. Multinational corporations have built billions of dollars' worth of petrochemical plants, refineries, grain elevators, and nuclear and fossil fuel power generation plants, most of which depend on fresh water for the production process, along both banks of the Mississippi River. Additionally, cities below Baton Rouge, including New Orleans, would have difficulty finding drinking water. The Atchafalaya Basin could not accept the flow of the Mississippi without massive flooding, extensive displacement, and the disruption of that area's social and economic patterns. A new route would render hundreds of millions of dollars of flood control projects along the lower Mississippi River useless, and costly flood control projects would be needed in the newly created Mississippi Delta.