All Topics  
Bayou Lafourche

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Bayou Lafourche
 
 
  Topics Bayou Lafourche Topic Home

Bayou Lafourche is a bayou
Bayou

A bayou is a small, slow-moving stream or creek, or a lake or pool that lies in an abandoned channel of a stream. Bayous are usually located in relatively flat, low-lying areas, for example, in the Mississippi River River delta region of the southern United States....
 in southeastern Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, that flows into the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
. The first settlements of Acadians in southern Louisiana were near Bayou Lafourche and Bayou des Ecores which led to a close association of the bayou with Cajun
Cajun

Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles and peoples of other ethnicities with whom the Acadians eventually intermarried on the semitropical frontier....
 culture. Today, approximately 300,000 Louisiana residents drink water drawn from the bayou. The name Lafourche is from the French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 word for "fork", and alludes to the bayou's large outflow of Mississippi River water.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Bayou Lafourche'
Start a new discussion about 'Bayou Lafourche'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Bayou Lafourche is a bayou
Bayou

A bayou is a small, slow-moving stream or creek, or a lake or pool that lies in an abandoned channel of a stream. Bayous are usually located in relatively flat, low-lying areas, for example, in the Mississippi River River delta region of the southern United States....
 in southeastern Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, that flows into the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
. The first settlements of Acadians in southern Louisiana were near Bayou Lafourche and Bayou des Ecores which led to a close association of the bayou with Cajun
Cajun

Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles and peoples of other ethnicities with whom the Acadians eventually intermarried on the semitropical frontier....
 culture. Today, approximately 300,000 Louisiana residents drink water drawn from the bayou. The name Lafourche is from the French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 word for "fork", and alludes to the bayou's large outflow of Mississippi River water. It was formerly a Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
 outlet, but was dammed at Donaldsonville
Donaldsonville, Louisiana

Donaldsonville is a city in and the parish seat of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States, along the west bank of the Mississippi River....
 in 1905. The dam cut off nourishment and replenishment of a huge wetland area of central Louisiana. It changed the formerly flowing bayou into a stagnant ditch.

A project to reconnect Bayou Lafourche to the Mississippi River at Donaldsonville is currently under design. The plan is to use a control structure to regulate the water discharge. The purpose is to mitigate the accelerated land loss that followed the interruption of the distributary flow, and also to improve water quality in the bayou.

The bayou is paralleled by Louisiana Highway 1
Louisiana Highway 1

Louisiana Highway 1 is a state highway in Louisiana that serves the following parishes :*Jefferson Parish, Louisiana*Lafourche Parish, Louisiana...
 on the west, and on the east by Louisiana Highway 308.

The film Southern Comfort
Southern Comfort (film)

Southern Comfort is an United States thriller film directed by Walter Hill , working from a script by Hill, longtime collaborator David Giler, and Michael Kane....
 is set in the Bayou Lafourche.