Louisiana Waterways and Cities

Today we will discuss

• Physical vs. cultural geography• Important Cities• Important waterways• Flood Control

Physical vs. Cultural Geography Physical

-Study of landforms, oceans, weather and climate.

• Cultural– Study of how people

have interacted with, changed and adapted to different places on earth.

Cities

• Most Populated– New Orleans• Built in 1718 by Bienville, under French Rule

• Oldest– Natchitoches• Build by St. Denis under French Rule in 1714

• Capitol– Baton Rouge• Meaning “Red Stick.” Named by Iberville.

New Orleans

Natchitoches

Baton Rouge

Other Important Cities

• Northern area• Shreveport & Monroe

• Southwest• Lafayette and Lake Charles

• Central• Alexandria

Mississippi River• Largest river in

the U.S. and 4th largest in the world.

• Starts in Minnesota and empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

• 375 billion gallons flow through LA each day.

Start of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River in Baton Rouge

Rivers Flowing into the Mississippi River

Atchafalaya River

• The longest distributary of the Mississippi River.– Flows into the Gulf of Mexico at Morgan City.

• Atchafalaya Basin is the largest swamp in the US– 23 million pounds of crawfish per year– Habitat of the Louisiana Black Bear

Gulf of Mexico

• Our southern border• Greatly affects our climate. Ex. Hurricanes.• Resources– Food– Oil– Natural gas

Controlling the Water

• Flooding and levees are always a concern for the people of Louisiana.

• Levees are to protect us from flooding.– They also create problems.• By controlling water with levees, we create high levels

of water inside levees.– LEVEES CAN BREAK. Ex. Hurricane Katrina.

– Does not allow sediment deposit and increases erosion

Levees

What is a levee?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix32QtAeOiI

Spillways

• Manmade and created to divert water to prevent flooding.– 2 in Louisiana• Bonnet Carre

– Takes water from the Mississippi and deposits it in Lake Pontchartrain

• Morganza– Diverts water to the Atchafalaya Basin

– Not opened very often

Spillways

Spillways

Clips

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMaMbajqCa8