The bad news is that the Mississippi Delta is sinking as much as one fifth of an inch per year and sometimes even more. But the good news is that the sinking is mostly limited to the uppermost layer of sediment and the land underneath is much more stable. These findings have implications for the post-Katrina rebuilding of Louisiana. For example, the large flood-control structures under consideration can be more stable than previously believed, provided that foundations penetrate entirely through the soft shallow deposits.