Atchafalaya river：Atchafalaya River

Distributary of the Mississippi River in Louisiana, United States

The Atchafalaya River ([2]French: La Rivière Atchafalaya, Spanish: Río Atchafalaya) is a 137-mile-long (220 km)[3]distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River,[4] and is the fifth largest river in North America, by discharge.[5] The name Atchafalaya comes from Choctaw for long river, from hachcha, river, and falaya, long.[6]

Atchafalaya Basin Sherburne Complex Wildlife Management Area

The Atchafalaya River is navigable and provides a significant industrial shipping channel for the state of Louisiana. It is the cultural heart of the Cajun Country.

The maintenance of the river as a navigable channel of the Mississippi River has been a significant project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for more than a century. Natural development of the river channel, coupled with channel training and m...