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Atchafalaya |
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Atchafalaya (əchă`fəlī'ə), navigable river, c.170 mi (270 km) long, S central La. The Atchafalaya meanders south, in a former channel of the Mississippi, to the Gulf of Mexico. A distributary of the Red and Mississippi rivers, the Atchafalaya flows to the Gulf through an extensive system of guide levees and floodways. Important to the agriculture and energy industries of the region, the system serves as a flood control for the lower Mississippi, especially around New Orleans. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Indeed, if water control projects were destroyed and the Mississippi were allowed to take its natural course, it would inevitably become captured by the Atchafalaya River, which empties off the south-central coast of Louisiana. The Corps's ambition, according to McPhee, reached a sort of culmination in the building of the Old River dams and locks near the spot where the Red River empties into the Mississippi, designed to keep the great river in its present channel and out of the Atchafalaya basin, where it seems naturally to seek a shorter outlet to the Gulf, while allowing high water from the main river to be released into the basin if necessary to prevent flooding downstream. And when you're ready to leave dry ground behind, take a boat tour of the picturesque Atchafalaya River Basin to encounter gators, birds, and the vast beauty of the swamp. |
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