Name
Balancing Water Below Sea Level
Date & Time
Thursday, August 29, 2024, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Andrew Woodroof Patrick Stiegman
Description

The City of New Orleans and neighboring Jefferson Parish (County) are uniquely challenged by managing stormwater in a below sea level environment while having some of the highest rainfall rates in the country. The system of levees and floodwalls designed to protect the region from hurricane storm surge creates a "bowl-effect" which traps stormwater in urban areas. Historically these flood-prone areas have managed flood risk using gray infrastructure systems of pipes, engineered canals and pump stations to "drain the bowl.” This presentation explores the efforts by Jefferson Parish and the City of New Orleans to evaluate integrated gray and green infrastructure strategies within two adjacent neighborhoods separated by the 17th Street Canal, which was one of the failure points to cause historic flooding in the City of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. In Jefferson Parish, speakers explore strategies in the Bucktown neighborhood, a historic fishing village turned mixed-used residential and commercial neighborhood undergoing significant investment and revitalization. In the City of New Orleans, speakers focus on the West End neighborhood, now recovered from the surge-based flooding of Hurricane Katrina but still challenged by an aging, undersized interior drainage system. For both projects, the team will describe the data collection, flood modeling, evaluation of project alternatives for reducing flood risk, and benefit-cost analysis for gray and green alternatives.

Location Name
Crystal 1-2
Full Address
Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
2500 E 2nd St
Reno, NV 89595
United States