Coastal Property Ownership Contested as the Gulf of Mexico Rises in Louisiana

Sara Sneath explains a major land use challenges facing the state of Louisiana as climate change pushes Gulf of Mexico water farther and farther inland:

Louisiana's continual land loss has created a monumental legal headache: When privately owned land vanishes under the water, who does it belong to?

Legal precedent in the state could be considered a massive government taking:

About 80 percent of Louisiana's coast is privately owned. But, under an old law, as coastal erosion and sea level rise turn the land into open water the area becomes property of the state, including the mineral rights underneath.

A task force created in the summer of 2018 recently sent seven recommended options for addressing the problem to the Louisiana State Legislature, as reported in the source article.