NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Sinking. It's a daily reality in New Orleans, where the soil is compacting and compressing, taking New Orleans down ever so slightly more with each passing year.
Much of this old French city is built atop former peat bogs and swampland long ago pumped dry.
But on Tuesday, Mayor Mitch Landrieu pushed an experimental plan to welcome water into the city to offset the sinking.
The idea is to catch rainfall and even introduce water from outside the levees to help stabilize the city's slow sinking, which also increases hurricane and flood vulnerability.
Making New Orleans a more watery city is a cornerstone to a resiliency plan Landrieu unveiled Tuesday to help the city survive.
On Saturday the city commemorates the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
– by AP Reporter Cain Burdeau
