Morganza Spillway of the Morganza Floodway closed. In March 1997, the river water flow at Baton Rouge reached () per second. However, the flow rate never reached the threshold of () per second for opening Morganza, and residents of Sicily Island, Louisiana, became angry that the spillway was not opened to prevent flooding in their homes. In March–April 2008, officials considered but declined to open the spillway gates. While the spillway gates remained closed then, flooding still occurred in part of the Morganza floodway when the Mississippi River crested higher than levees near the spillway. Local residents and National Guard troops attempted
Morganza Spillway still open. All bays were closed on July 7, 2011. The Corps had estimated that it would take opening one-fourth of the spillway’s 125 bays — or 31 bays — to control the flow of the river through Baton Rouge in response to a forecast crest of anticipated on Tuesday, May 17, 2011, which must remain below of water per second through Baton Rouge to ensure the integrity of the levee system. Since Morganza never operated above , the flooding in the Atchafalaya Basin was considerably lower than had been anticipated during the initial estimates of . By May 29,