Can we stop fighting nature and start working with it?

Thirteen years ago, America changed. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept across the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana with catastrophic force, upending lives and devastating entire communities. For the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, nothing would be the same again. From that moment on, the lives of those who survived this terrible tragedy would forever be divided into two timelines - pre-Katrina and post-Katrina.

Since then, communities across the nation have seen a record number of hurricanes, wildfires and floods. And we know that the changing climate will only continue to exacerbate these threats. The saying that "today's flood is tomorrow's high tide" has perhaps never been more pertinent than when it comes to protecting our coasts.

If we want to prevent future tragedies of the magnitude of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Harvey and Maria, we need to shift our thinking from reacting to disaster to proactively managing these increasing risks by working with nature to design resilient systems and green infrastructure.

As a foundation with deep investments in tackling critical environmental problems by working with community partners to advance solutions that also make economic sense -- we believe that building a robust restoration economy is the clear answer. Why?

At the heart of plans to restore Louisiana's coast are projects that restore the natural function of the Mississippi River to deposit sediment that will rebuild and sustain wetlands. These sediment diversions, as they are called, are the best chance we have to slow the loss of coastal wetlands that so many people depend on for their communities, their livelihoods and their way of life.

Sediment diversions are an important piece of a larger 50-year, $92-billion Coastal Master Plan the state has developed to prioritize projects across the coast to build or maintain the most land. The aims are to build 800 square miles of wetlands, rebuild barrier islands and oyster reefs, and restore marshes to protect communities and habitat. To pay for this plan, the state is using oil spill funds as a down payment. It is also looking at new financial approaches such as environmental impact bonds and outcome-based, 'pay for success' contracting, as well as public-private partnership structures.