From Councilmember Guidry:

Today, GNO, Inc. officially released its 6.2 billion dollar Urban Water Plan. The plan, designed by local architectural firm Waggoner & Ball, in conjunction with local, state, federal, and international water experts, is designed to help us change our focus from protecting against water to learning how to harness it to help beautify our communities and increase economic development across the region.

Check out the URBAN WATERS PLAN reports by clicking here.

Backers sell $6.2B water plan as investment

CITY BUSINESS POSTED: 03:00 PM Wednesday, September 11, 2013
BY: Jessica Gonzalez, Reporter

New Orleans’ battle with storm water has been a long, tumultuous and expensive one, but a new 50-year plan Greater New Orleans Inc. unveiled last week calls for government officials and residents to think of water as a solution to flooding and subsidence, rather than a threat.

Rendering courtesy of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan

It also makes the suggestion that the $6.2 billion price tag be thought of as an investment in the future of the region, rather than an insurmountable expense.

A potential funding solution, proponents say, is to include Urban Water Plan projects into parish public works budgets.

Mark Davis, director of the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy, co-authored the implementation section of the 225-page plan and says one of its key findings is that public works dollars need to be used in a more proactive manner. He said the projects in the plan satisfy that need.

“We know we’re going to spend billions fixing pipes, streets, and utilities, and historically we haven’t gotten very good returns on the investments…” Davis said. “The idea is to use some of those same dollars so you’re not only fixing it once, you’re getting a return. It’s not a matter of where do we find $6.2 billion. It’s what do we buy with $6.2 billion.”

Created over the course of two years by local, national and Dutch experts with the guidance of the local firm Waggonner & Ball Architects, the premise of the new plan is to establish a third line of defense against flooding, in conjunction with the existing hurricane protection system and the state’s master plan to restore its coastline.

The plan recommends altering areas with a predominance of concrete landscape with rain gardens and increased roadside and median vegetation.

Larger city projects, such as Amsterdam-like canals and drainage redirection into internal wetlands and storage basins, are also proposed. Their aesthetic benefits also offer the potential to raise property values, officials say.

A storm water agency to oversee theseprojects is also crucial to implementation, Davis said. He likened storm water management to the issue of coastal restoration and land loss, which roughly 25 years ago had no state or local oversight until a preliminary coastal plan was established.

“None of the area parishes has anyone who manages ground water,” Davis said. “That’s one thing that will likely have to change.”

Many of the methods recommended in the Urban Water Plan have been used in cities around the country to reduce the burden on aging and expensive sewage and drainage systems. Officials project the plan would eliminate flooding from a T5 storm (6 inches of rain fall in 24 hours) and substantially reduce the damage and effects of a T10 storm (11.5 inches in 24 hours).

Topping the implementation list are seven “demonstration projects” in three parishes. Among those is a 25-acre water garden in Gentilly, a site once occupied by the Congregation of St. Joseph that has sat empty since levee breaks and flooding after Hurricane Katrina decimated the church.

The site, donated to the city by the congregation, will be used as a park during dry times and as a “detention pond” during storms to protect nearby homes from flooding.

Other demonstration projects in New Orleans include “floating streets” with vegetation and permeable pavement in Lakeview, Dutch-style transformations of areas in eastern New Orleans and the Lafitte Greenway in Mid-City to turn dilapidated canals into duel-functioning water storage and public parks.

In Jefferson Parish, projects include canal improvements in Old Metairie and increased vegetation in parking lots and along roadways in the largely concrete and flood-prone Elmwood.

“It really is a paradigm shift. It’s a new way of doing things,” Jefferson Parish President John Young said of the plan.

In St. Bernard Parish, the plan calls for turning vacant lots that line the Forty Arpent Canal into a water storage system and park.

The plan also emphasizes “creative financing tools” paired with policy changes as a key way to secure funding to see the plan come to life. Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc., said funding options for the seven demonstration projects have been identified but not secured. He would not disclose those sources.

“Funding is currently being pursued, and GNO Inc. will be working with federal, state, and local governments, and industry and philanthropy to secure commitments for the demonstration projects,” Hecht said in an email.

On a smaller scale, Deputy Mayor Cedric Grant said the Planning Commission is in the early stage of revising New Orleans’ comprehensive zoning ordinance, and a storm water management component will be included.

In terms of changing the region’s relationship with storm water and re-envisioning New Orleans as “a water-city”, he said the change isn’t as daunting as it may seem on paper.

“We know how to do this,” Grant said. “We just forgot.” •

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