Get help understanding & measuring water quality / Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation / 50Īdopt a catch basin on your street to reduce flooding and pollution in your neighborhood / City’s Adopt a Catch Basin Program Plant sales and garden trainings / Parkway Partners / 50 / New Orleans City Park / 50Įducational Resources to help you in rain events / City’s Ready for Rain Program Learn how to install green infrastructure in your neighborhood / Water Wise / Recharge NOLA / Global Green Install a Rain Barrel / Greenlight New Orleans / 50 / United Way / (504) 897-6277 / Recharge NOLA Plant Trees in your neighborhood / SOUL NOLA / 50 / NOLA Tree Project / 50 Remove paving in your yard or participate in the Healthy Block program / Urban Conservancy’s Front-Yard Initiative / 50 Reduce our local greenhouse and emission output to reduce heat in the area, which in turns reduces rain burst and other flooding events brought on by natural and man-made disasters. Reduce subsidence and the amount we pump to prevent long term negative impacts on our streets, homes, and ecosystem Reduce the amount of rain that enters our storm drain system, by capturing it where it falls and helping it enter the soil. Great vehicles for environmental stewardship, as it supports native plants and local ecosystems. Increases property values and community pride Reduces public health concerns related to heat and lack of public parks, especially in low income, at-risk communities Reduces global emissions and greenhouse gases Reducing subsidence and the need to pump consistently Reduces heat in neighborhoods that are experiencing heat island effects Sanitizing and reducing waste in our water systems It also has a multitude of other benefits including: Green Infrastructure is a scientifically proven solution that helps reduce flooding, especially in low-lying communities that are susceptible to flood events. To do this, we recommend green infrastructure which allows us to hold, store, slow, and sink water. In order to prevent flooding due to aging infrastructure and rain events caused by climate change, everyone in New Orleans should help do their part to prevent flooding. In fact, New Orleans is one of the fastest sinking cities on Earth, with an average rate of 2 inches per year. This in turn increases pot holes, degrades properties from ruining foundations, and increases flooding due to water run-off falling into sinking streets and neighborhoods. When we pull water and nutrients from the ground using the pumping system, we dry out our sponge city, forcing us to sink and degrade our ecosystem. New Orleans is a delta, aka a big wet sponge. To make matters worse, due to our consistent pumping and reliance on it (24/7 to be exact) it increases our subsidence. In the humid, subtropical climate, more water is trapped in the atmosphere and released at a higher rate and pace than what is normal. This is caused by rising global emissions which causes the earth to heat at record temperatures. Most water mains and pipes in New Orleans are over 115 years old and were built in the first wave of development in the 1930s.ĭue to climate change, rain-bursts such as what has happened on August 5th and as recently as June 10th, 2020, New Orleans will experience more flooding events. Downtown New Orleans and Algiers experienced up to 5 inches of rain in less than 3 hours which is unprecedented.Īcross the United States Water Infrastructure is aging with most historical cities taking the brunt in this area. On August 5th, 2017 the city of New Orleans experienced 8-10 inches inches in total causing massive flooding in most parts of the city. Our drainage system can only handle t and only a half inch of rain in every hour after that. Because we are surrounded by waterways, we have a lack of land mass, and that the city is as high as about 8-9 feet, we are flood prone. In fact, All of New Orleans is as high as Cafe Du Monde on Decatur Street from the street to the top of the awning. We are the only city in the United States that relies solely on pumping stations for drainage because 95% of Orleans Parish is at or below sea level. New Orleans is the 3rd rainiest city in the country, with an average of 62 inches of rain each year.
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