The Bonnet Carré Spillway, part of the Mississippi River and Tributaries project (MR&T) is the southernmost floodway in the MR&T system. Located in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, the spillway reduces risk for New Orleans and other downstream communities during major floods on the Mississippi River. This risk reduction is accomplished by diverting a portion of the floodwaters into Lake Pontchartrain and then into the Gulf of Mexico, bypassing New Orleans. This spillway was first opened during the flood of 1937, and nine times thereafter through 2011 to lower river stages at New Orleans.