It does not take much familiarity with the history of Mississippi flood control and the Army Corps of Engineers to realize how risky, fraught, and short-sighted the whole project has been. The delta's dying and the Old River Control Structure is one bad day away from diverting the entire river to the Atchafalaya.

_The Great River_ by Boyce Upholt from last year is a good place to start learning about the Mississippi.

Or John McPhee's "Atchafalaya".