17th Street Canal

A woman walks her dog along the levee beside the flood wall on the Metairie side of the canal, November 11, 2005. In the background to the right, ongoing repairs in the breach on the New Orleans side can be seen.

The 17th Street Canal is the largest and most important drainage canal in the city of New Orleans. Operating with Pump Station 6, it moves water into Lake Pontchartrain. The canal, along with the Orleans Canal and the London Avenue Canal, form the New Orleans Outfall Canals. The 17th Street Canal forms a significant portion of the boundary between the city of New Orleans and Metairie, Louisiana. The canal has also been known as the Metairie Outlet Canal and the Upperline Canal.