Time to Save the Atchafalaya

Time To Save The Atchafalaya

Abstract

The Atchafalaya Basin is America's largest river swamp and functions as a major distribution stream for the Mississippi and Red rivers. The Atchafalaya takes 30 percent of the combined flow of the Red River and the Mississippi and feeds it into a system of lakes and ever-smaller bayous that spread into swamp and marsh wetlands. The Atchafalaya is one of the most biologically productive and diverse areas anywhere in the world. Today the Basin is a mere shadow of what it once was. The Atchafalaya has suffered wave upon wave of degradation and continues to be destroyed every day from the development associated with population growth, agriculture, logging, pollution and manipulation of the river system. A mandate from Congress to the Corps of Engineers requires the return of the Atchafalaya to more natural conditions. Working with state and federal agencies, the Corps of Engineers is using restoring the water flow, sediment diversion, marsh creation, and shoreline protection measures as cornerstones in returning one of the worlds most biologically productive and diverse areas to it’s rich heritage.

Time To Save The Atchafalaya

Rick Stanley

Introduction

The Atchafalaya Basin, America's largest river swamp,