The Atchafalaya River is a tributary of the Mississippi River that is enormously powerful, and it threatens to engulf the Mississippi completely. It is also the larger river swamp in the United States. However, the residents of southern Louisiana depend upon the Mississippi River not only for their drinking water, but also to sustain local economies like the oil industries and fishing. Moreover, if the Atchafalaya overtakes the Mississippi, routine flooding may wipe out New Orleans. This dilemma has led the Army Corps of Engineers to institute numerous mechanisms on the Mississippi to try and take back control from the Atchafalaya. 

Debris basins are large pits that engineers design to trap debris and prevent it from rolling down a mountainside—and into the homes of unsuspecting residents, in the case of Los Angeles. The Army Corps of Engineers praises debris basins; residents sleep securely knowing that they’re in place. However, debris basins are not always successful in stopping the debris, and the city of Los Angeles must spend millions of dollars reinforcing these basins for comparatively few residents.