Distributary
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A distributary is a river that branches off from a major river before it reaches the sea, particularly in a river delta.
In Louisiana, for example, this is the case where the Atchafalaya River splits from the Mississippi River. In some cases, a distributary can "steal" so much water from its parent that it can become the main route. This is actually a serious problem for New Orleans, because the Atchafalaya takes a steeper route to the Gulf of Mexico, and therefore takes more and more water from the Mississippi. This was recently stopped by the construction of a dam to control the outflow from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya.
Other notable distributaries are the Coleroon, a distributary of the Cauvery River, and the Hoogli River, a distributary of the Ganges River, both in India.
The opposite of a distributary is a tributary.