It’s Official: Louisiana Is Sinking

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – It has been 29 years since the National Geodetic Survey measured Louisiana’s subsidence, but according to recent results from 2018, the state’s elevation is changing.

With the help of LSU’s Center for Geoinformatics, NGS completed four absolute gravity observations.

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“This is the second observation NGS has performed in Louisiana, with the first one having taken place at the University of New Orleans in 1989. Since then, the four additional observations through 2018 show a cumulative apparent subsidence of 147 mm in 29 years, which is 5 mm a year,” said LSU Chief of Geodesy Cliff Mugnier.

C4G said a closer look at the results show Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Oakdale, Hammond, and Shreveport have not changed in elevation, while other areas are instead sinking.

SINKING
Alexandria: -49 mm
Old River: -34 mm
Lake Charles: -16 mm
Boothville: -13 mm
Ruston: -9 mm