Atchafalaya River Morganza Spillway further downstream is also used to regulate volume. In 1942 part of the flow of the Atchafalaya River was diverted through Wax Lake to the Gulf of Mexico further west. During the 2011 Mississippi River floods, the Old River complex was discharging more than into the Atchafalaya River, and the Morganza Floodway was discharging one-fourth of its capacity. If the Mississippi were allowed to flow freely, the shorter and steeper Atchafalaya would capture the main flow of the Mississippi, permitting the river to bypass its current path through the important ports of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Despite
Morganza to the Gulf benefits to the marshes and wetlands in the Terrebonne Basin. Safe Harbor: Fishermen will no longer have to leave the area in a storm event. A Reconnaissance Study for the Morganza, Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection Project was authorized by Congress in 1992. Following completion of this report, the United States Congress authorized a Feasibility Study in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1995 (Public Law 103-316). The Feasibility Study was completed in March 2002 and the Chief of Engineers letter was forwarded to the Secretary of the Army in August 2002 and supplemented in