as a recreational area. It is used for off-road vehicles, biking, boating, hiking, hunting, and fishing. It is designated a protected wildlife management area by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. To enhance fishing in the spillway, the clay extraction pits were filled with water and stocked with bluegill, largemouth bass, and other fish. Diversion projects The success of the Caernarvon Freshwater and the Davis Pond Freshwater Diversions, especially concerning wetlands maintenance more than wetlands building, has led to studies for more fresh water diversion projects. Caernarvon and Davis Pond diversions have limits, because of laws governing their operation, aimed at limiting the flow of freshwater to minimize damage to oysters. The Bonnet Carré Spillway diversion would be built within the spillway, on the east bank of the Mississippi, allowing up to 25,000 c.f.s. (i.e. ft3/s) of fresh water and sediment diversion into Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Sound. The diversion would slow or stop subsidence, reducing marsh loss by 10,500 acres in the next 50 years, providing fish and wildlife protection, as well as further storm surge protection. The diversion was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1988 (WRDA 1988), and Congress (1990) split the cost and maintenance between the Federal Government at 75%, Louisiana at 20% and Mississippi at 5%. Louisiana and Mississippi must agree to a final project design, but in July 1996, Louisiana withdrew as a sponsor, and as of 2016 an agreement has not been reached. Marine fisheries damage The several openings of the spillway have had a significant effect on marine fisheries in the Mississippi Sound, which resulted in a federal award of damages in 2011 and ongoing federal litigation over the management of the spillway. See also CNR Bonnet Carré Spillway-Baton Rouge Bridge CNR Bonnet Carré Spillway-McComb Bridge Kansas City Southern Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge I-10 Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge U.S. 61 Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway Morganza Spillway 2011 Mississippi River floods References External links U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Bonnet Carré Spillway Official Site "New Orleans Flood Valve Finished", March 1931, Popular Science Mississippi River United States Army Corps of Engineers Buildings and structures in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Protected areas of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Tributaries of Lake Pontchartrain Tourist attractions in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana Landforms of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana 1931 establishments in Louisiana Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Spillways