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  In later years outdated locks were replaced and presently there are four locks and dams on the waterway, each with lock chambers 84 feet wide and 600 feet in length having from 3 to 5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.