Welcome to Ouachita Black
The Ouachita River originates in Polk County, Arkansas, and flows 510 miles
in a southerly direction to Jonesville, Louisiana, where it converges with
the Tensas and Little Rivers to form the Black River. Black River meets
the Red River (J. Bennett Johnston Waterway) 41 miles south of Jonesville, about
28½ miles below the mouth of the Black River, the Red River comes to
a junction with the Atchafalaya River and the western end of the seven mile
long Old River, which historically lined these rivers to the Mississippi River. The
Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project was begun in 1902 and is a 337-mile
long waterway. The navigable area begins in Camden, AR to Jonesville,
LA where it converges with the Tensas and Little Rivers to form the Black River.
In 1924 construction was completed on the system of six locks and dams. In
later years outdated locks were replaced and presently there are four locks
and dams on the waterway, each with lock chambers 84 feet wide and 600 feet
in length having from 3 to 5 tainter gates. The locks and dams have a
lift from 12 feet up to 30 feet, which provides a minimum 9-foot deep and 100-foot
wide navigation channel to accommodate barge traffic from the Red River north
to Camden, AR.
The
Louisiana Field Office, locate in Monroe, LA, manages natural resources, recreation
and flood control on the Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project. Currently
the Louisiana Field Office manages 21 recreation areas along the Ouachita-Black
Rivers and it’s tributaries, including the Boeuf River, Tensas River,
Little River and the control structure at Catahoula Dam.
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