The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north through parts of eight parishes to the Morgan City southern area. The sudden light surprises the traveler and the beauty of the water, set about with tall trees, forms an enchanting sight.[14]. [16], The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 nearly demolished the community. } It is filled with twisting bayous, rivers and Americas largest river swamp. Who ever thought you could measure discharge from space? Jasinski said. Over millennia, the Mississippi has made natural shifts, wandering hundreds of miles in grand arcs with ancient channels stretching into Texas. Call (225) 578-8590 or write to: Box G, Baton Rouge, LA Sites with this marker help preserve and promote the language for years to come. The Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System project has two mutually supporting goals: to preserve the habitat of nations largest and oldest river-basin swamp and to ensure that the Lower Atchafalaya Basin can pass a floodwater of 1.5 million cubic feet per second as required by the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project (MR&T). The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north through parts of eight parishes to the Morgan City southern area. Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station], Hale, L., Waldon, M.G., Bryan, C.F., Richards, P.A. The Control of Nature: Atchafalaya. All Rights Reserved. Public and private homes listed on the National Register for Historic Places and that showcase south Louisiana's unique culture. width: 100%; The terrestrial hydrosphere includes water on the land surface and underground in the form of lakes, rivers, and groundwater along with total water storage. tlxLastPublishedDate.toLocaleString() : now.toLocaleString(); document.write("Last updated on " + edited); Apex Mapping Solutions * Baton Rouge * Louisiana *Phone: 225.289.6978. Use the map Its a straightforward matching. The best match provides the most-comprehensive value for Mannings Roughness coefficient, and thats the model that can estimate river flow for any number of discharges. NASA Alaska Satellite Facility Distributed Active Archive Center (ASF DAAC), The photograph in the title graphic shows the swampy environment of the Atchafalaya basin (Courtesy M. Levine). .table_d2e260 { In some places natural bayous have filled in due to flow capture by access canals. Voices of the AtchafalayaDocumentary featuring pictures and oral histories from the basin. The location, topography, and nearby roads & trails around Atchafalaya Basin Floodway (Flat) can be seen in the map layers above. Hiking Whether you choose a hotel, cottage, B&B or cabin, stay a while in the Atchafalaya NHA! US Army Corps of Engineers - New Orleans District. Now buried underneath at least twelve feet of silt, Bayou Chene is one of several abandoned communities in the midst of the basin. [10] The Atchafalaya River Deltas are the only locations of land growth along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Seeregulationsfor details. Driving Directions: From Hwy. The US Geological Survey (USGS) reports that Mississippi River delta salt marshes are wetlands degrading at a rate of 29 square miles per year (2.4km2/Ms). From science to history to legends and lore, there are so many museums to dive deeper into the Atchafalaya NHA. Aerial view of the Big Island Mining Project restoration site on Atchafalaya Bay. .table_d2e148 { } Atchafalaya River nautical chart. Best known for its iconic cypress-tupelo swamps, at 260,000 acres (110,000ha), this block of forest represents the largest remaining contiguous tract of coastal cypress in the United States.[2]. The historic lack of significant channel connection indicates that the Atchafalaya River Basin did not receive significant sediment from the Mississippi except during large floods. Largest wetland and swamp in the United States, This article is about a wetlands basin in Louisiana. The Atchafalaya is different among Louisiana basins because it has a growing delta system (see illustration) with wetlands that are almost stable. Zydeco, swamp pop, blues and more find their roots in the Atchafalaya NHA. Art museums, sculptures, performance venues and more expressions of art. There are fields of sugar cane and cotton, ancient live oaks and towering cypress. The Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will launch altimeters to look at the surface and slopes of rivers, floodplains, and oceans. Water Resources Research 48, WO7511, doi:10.1029/2012WR011951. width: 100%; After the levees, sediment was directed into an area about one-third the size of the original basin. An official website of the United States government. These maps help to illustrate the rivers reach, our efforts to control it and the impacts from its flooding on the people who live in its floodplain. This research isnt just about hydrodynamics, Jung said. depth ( -->, ,