1.   Along North Autumn Street, residents were filling sandbags at the back of the San Jose Arena in a desperate attempt to keep the river out of their homes.

2.   Because of the problems, environmental groups have been looking for ways to keep the river from deteriorating further.

3.   Dikes and levees were rigged up too, keeping the river in check, and holding back the runoff that once muddied its waters.

4.   Levees built to protect New Orleans from spring floods have kept the river from depositing alluvial soil and rebuilding the lowlands.

5.   Rampart got its name from mud ramparts that kept the river from flooding.

6.   That could put pressure on the dikes that keep rivers from flooding polders, the low-lying farmlands reclaimed over the centuries from marsh and river basins.

7.   A sandbag levee is keeping the river out of the downtown area.

8.   By controlling the flow of water, the dam will also keep the river from running dry in the lower reaches as it has in recent springs.

9.   Federal officials began unleashing torrents of water Saturday from the Penoles dam, keeping rivers flooding at historically high levels as they raged toward the southern Gulf of Mexico.

10.   Bundy said the crews are confident they will keep the river in check but storms in Texas and along the Gulf Coast moving northeastward may jeopardize the operation.