Old River Control Structure such that the volume of the two rivers is split 70%/30%, respectively, as measured at the latitude of Red River Landing. This flow split was not based on science, but rather was based on the approximate flow allocation between the two rivers that existed at the time of construction. Water diverted at Old River flows into the Atchafalaya Basin, first entering the Red River, then continuing down the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing Baton Rouge and New Orleans (see diagram). The Morganza Floodway, between the Mississippi and the Atchafalaya Basin nearby downstream, is normally closed, but can
Morganza to the Gulf to 4 in favor of the Water Resources Development Act, an enormous water projects bill containing the levee system. Congress has not passed a WRDA bill since 2000, and authorization for the Morganza project has stalled annually with it. Next WRDA will head to conference committee, where the House and the Senate will iron out any differences between their versions of the bill. Last year, WRDA died in the waning hours of the Senate stuck in conference committee. But Jerome Zeringue, executive director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation Board, said that the May passage of WRDA and a lack