How New Orleans Plans To Save Itself From Sinking

How New Orleans Plans To Save Itself From Sinking

New Orleans is Sinking the changes over the years are obvious to those looking at the city’s infrastructure streets are caving in and walls are cracking throughout the city the sinking of the land is nothing new it’s been happening over time for more than 100 years in and around the New Orleans area but now it’s worsening every year New Orleans sinks by about 2 in and Grim estimates of the subsidence rates predict that most of New Orleans could go underwater by 2050 but is there anything that can be done well luckily there are some options for New Orleans to take to slow the sinking of its land to understand what these next steps might be we first have to understand the way in which New Orleans came to be all the way back to before New Orleans or much of any civilization existed on the Mississippi River [Music] delta before the city was founded in the 1700s nature was left to its own devices over the course of 6,000 years natural flow and flooding of the Mississippi River into surrounding wetlands carried sediment and deposited it in the Delta as the years passed the sediment built up in the Delta marshes creating the elevated land that New Orleans was eventually constructed upon the 1700s the first residents of the area the Native Americans of the chitimacha tribe of Louisiana occupied the region but they didn’t experience any sinking because there was no City yet the river continued its natural cycle of flooding the wetlands and depositing excess sediment in the Delta marshes but things started to change when the French explorers arrived in the New Orleans area in 17 198 the French occupied a large swath of land in North America at the time and the governor of what was then known as French Louisiana christened New Orleans as a new city that same year at that time ironically the first neighborhood the French Quarter was actually built in the chosen location because the elevation was relatively high for the area clocking in at about 10 ft above sea level but even then there were concerns that the city might begin to sink because of the consistency of the soil that lay below the city the sediment that served as a foundation for the city was loose and water loged because it was from the wetlands and marshes so there were doubts that it could support large buildings and City infrastructure yet still New Orleans was born and a small settlement began to grow in the Mississippi River delta one that would eventually grow into one of the largest coastal cities along the Gulf of Mexico the concerns that the French originally had about the soil were realized much later after the United States acquired the city in 1803 through the Louisiana Purchase throughout the 1800s the city expanded but the growth of it was limited by the marshes and swamps that that surrounded it how would the city grow if the land around it was too wet and boggy to build upon well the city planners came up with a solution they decided to build a drainage system in 1896 the drainage system was constructed throughout the surrounding swamp land and pumped the water out of these areas to make them available for development now this sounds like a good idea but the drainage system had a lot of unintended consequences by removing water from the surrounding areas and preventing river water from flowing into the Delta the land didn’t receive its usual replenishment of sediment dams and walls built along the river to prevent flooding into the city made the situation even worse as they blocked sediments from entering the wetlands the natural cycle of depositing new sediments in the River delta was broken soon New Orleans would experience the consequences of fracturing the cycle now that no new sediment was entering the Delta the next issue that arose came as a result of the type of sediment along the Mississippi River the loose soil relies on an influx of new sediment to pack in the existing soil without the addition of new sediment the existing soil develops air pockets that are left unfilled but something has to fill them as a result the existing sediment sinks to fill the air pockets compacting the sediment and leading to an overall sinking across the city once the sinking began it became a constantly deteriorating cycle as the city became lower the risk of flooding became higher so the city kept building more dams and levies to prevent the city from flooding but the measures put in place to prevent the flooding would lead to more land sinking which would only place the city at a higher risk of flooding it became a dangerous Lo that was difficult to break the options were either to allow flooding to damage homes and infrastructure or to protect the city and allow the land to continue to sink at an alarming rate aside from drainage and anti- flooding systems the increase of modern human industrial activities has also exacerbated the issue in recent decades as power plants and Industrial centers sprouted up in the New Orleans area they began to use groundwater to make energy but when groundwater is extracted from beneath the surface in New Orleans it makes the soil dry out even faster and leads to some areas in the City sinking at an increased rate in fact the rate of subsidence has grown noticeably worse in just the last 20 years New Orleans was only sinking about a quar of an inch to an inch each year between 2002 and 2005 but now it’s jumped up to 2 in per year between 2009 and 2012 it’s a common problem everywhere more than 80% of subsidence Nationwide is caused by the over pumping of groundwater according to the US Geological Survey so this might not sound like much of a change but over time the inches add up and can make a major difference remember when the city was first founded it was 10 ft above sea level now the city has sunk so far that about half of New Orleans is under sea level but not all the sinking in the region can be blamed on human activities and the expansion of New Orleans the natural geography of the region around New Orleans causes some sinking of its own which is an issue people can’t control this is the michod Fault a nearly 4 and A2 mile fault line that runs through Eastern New Orleans especially in the last 70 years the fault lines crossing through the City have caused some of the sinking up to 73% by some estimates in Eastern New Orleans the sinking occurs when the fault begins to slump but it’s not completely understood why this happens on a deeper geological level it’s also thought that onshore oil drilling and extraction in and around the area has contributed to geological slumping Louisiana is one of the largest markets in the United States for oil and natural gas production so some theories point to oil extraction as a cause for geological unrest and subsidence as the city is sinking the ocean is creeping in as well without sediment deposition and the flow of fresh water into the marshes and wetlands salt water from the Gulf Coast has had the chance to move into the wetlands but the Flora and forner living in the wetlands are not used to the salt water and can’t survive the rapid change in salt concentration in their habitat so they die off the issue with this is that the plants anchoring the soil in the wetlands die leaving the sediment even looser than it already is the loose sediment along the shoreline can be eroded easily by the salt water flowing into the Wetland carrying away the little amount of sediment left and transforming the wetlands into open ocean over time in fact since the 1930s soil erosion in the region has transformed a huge swath of land almost 2,000 square mil of cpress swamps and marshes into ocean water just like this changes in the global climate have also added to the danger of New Orleans ending up underwater as the city continues to sink sea levels are increasing when the global climate increases ocean water experiences what is known as thermal expansion as water grows warmer its volume increases and it takes up more space so warmer water means higher sea levels sea levels along the United States Coastline in the Gulf Coast where New Orleans is located are expected to rise 14 to 18 in in the next 30 Years this makes the situation more dire for New Orleans which will continue to sink below sea level as the sea level rises making flooding even more likely than it already is we have already seen the damage that that subsidence and heightened flood risks can cause in New Orleans in August 2005 the infamous Hurricane Katrina struck bringing winds upward of 170 mph and torrential rainfall at first the city seemed to have dodged the worst of the massive category 4 storm but a couple days after the hurricane made landfall the Monstrous storm surge which reached over 26 ft in height in some places and the heavy rainfall had become too much for the levy system that New Orleans relied upon the levies along the industrial canal in New Orleans gave away and water surged into the City by the following day more levies had been breached by the water and 80% of the city had become submerged in up to 20 ft of water Hurricane Katrina caused massive Devastation leaving houses and streets submerged it became the most expensive natural disaster in United States history because of the destruction it caused to property and infrastructure throughout New Orleans it also claimed more than 1,800 lives making it one of the most deadly natural disasters in the United States in recent history luckily there hasn’t been much flooding to match Hurricane Katrina since it hit New Orleans but that doesn’t mean the city doesn’t deal with regular flooding during rainy Seasons when it rains hard enough it’s not uncommon for parts of the city to flood as heavy rain overwhelms the pump and drainage system put in place over a 100 years ago during floods photos like this happen regularly with residents kayaking down streets treating them as canals instead of roads just like in Venice another city that sinking especially after Hurricane Katrina the subsidence of the land in and around New Orleans and the flooding that comes with it seemed inevitable so is there a way to prevent a disaster like Katrina from happening again or is it unavoidable and can the city avoid its fate of becoming submerged within the next several decades well unfortunately it’s too late to reverse the initial cause of the sinking without its natural cycle of sediment deposition New Orleans will continue to sink but can it be slowed and ultimately can the city even be saved we know that the possibility of this is very real I mean look at the IL de Jean sha located just 80 M away from New Orleans for example for centuries people lived on its 22,000 acres of land but today it’s sitting at just 320 having lost almost 99% of its land due to saltwater intrusion and subsidence the residents of Il Jean shal are considered by the federal government to be the first Community displaced by climate change with most having left in 2022 so New Orleans is definitely trying to take measures to slow the sink in 2007 Congress approved a project called the Myrtle Grove diversion meant to rebuild the land around New Orleans the project would include piping sediment into Wetlands manually to recreate the natural cycle of sediment deposition implementing measures to slow erosion along the shoreline and creating better storm protection but this project is easier said than done it would take a lot of funding and a lot of coordination among New Orleans residents the diversion to pipe in sedment would need to be built on private properties of New Orleans Property Owners so the governments would need to go through the process of getting approval from the owners to move forward with the project besides that it would change the wetlands back to the fresh water instead of salt water over time this would bring back native plants and wildlife in the wetlands which would help the environment but it would harm the thriving fishing Market in the area that relies upon saltwater in the River delta as of yet Congress hasn’t funded this project so it is still in the midst of a slow moving process and it’s unclear whether or not this plan will move forward other ideas have been pitched to save the city one suggestion focuses Less on reversing the erosion of sediment and instead aims to manage the amount of water storage available in the city the city would build canals capable of storing excess water during rainy Seasons to prevent extreme flooding these canals would then transform into recreational areas like parks and Pathways during dry seasons this project would try to find an intersection between an attractive landscape and water retention this way the city would flood less and New Orleans though still sinking would suffer less damage because of the influx of water even though this idea holds potential for curbing flooding in the city it hasn’t panned out as of yet as a chosen solution for fighting the land subsidence especially since it doesn’t really fight the actual sinking of the land and instead just fights the damage it causes instead for a long time the New Orleans government was trying to protect the sinking City simply by reinforcing levies around New Orleans by adding more concrete and Clay making them taller and stronger but after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the levy system in the city the Army Core of Engineers embarked on an ambitious project to construct a flood resistance system around New Orleans it’s essentially 133 M perimeter around the metro area not including a further 70 Mi of internal risk reduction structures and provides protection for five parishes Orleans Jefferson St Bernard plans and St Charles it was meant to ensure that a hurricane krina situation would never again strike New Orleans and it cost a huge sum of $14.6 billion but less than 11 months yes just 11 months after it was built the levy system began to sink and it was predicted it would be obsolete by 2023 literally within Just 4 years so a further $3.2 billion had to be allocated to it in 2021 so the levies would continue to provide protection for hopefully another 50 years and while it’s supposed to be good enough to protect against surges from 100-year storms or those with a 1% chance of occurring in any year it’s now deemed not enough in an era marked by rising sea levels and more intense hurricanes fueled by global warming the system may have to be boosted to survive against 200e storms these periodic issues will add hundreds of millions of dollars to the bull and of course it doesn’t solve the issue of the entire city sinking it’s just a temporary fix to reduce the risk of flooding eventually the levies no matter how tall will not be enough to save New Orleans finally in 2018 the New Orleans City governments knew it had to act to save the city and shifted to a different approach since then it has started six projects with the goal of building green infrastructure that will help lessen the strain placed on their storm water drainage system during rainy periods the green infrastructure is supposed to be environmentally friendly while also diverting about 55 million L of water away from the drainage system the idea of the new plan in New Orleans is to find a way to live with the influx of water and manage it rather than trying to fight the water as the city has done for years with its intensive pump and drainage system and its Levy reinforcement plan the city hopes to add 15 more projects to their list by 2035 that would continue to divert Millions more liters of water to new storage spaces as a part of this environmental initiative multiple nonprofits have popped up in New Orleans to help combat the sinking in their own ways one project currently underway has decided to forgo the complicated drainage systems and engineering and Turn Back To Nature as a solution known as the sustaining our Urban landscape or Soul project the effort aims to replenish New Orleans local tree population during Hurricane Katrina the city lost between 100,000 and 200,000 trees which has increased the potential for flooding damage because trees naturally absorb flood water they act as sponges of sorts absorbing storm water through their roots the project aims to plant local trees like the bald Cyprus and live oak trees which can absorb 3,300 L and 4,800 L of storm water each day respectively that’s more than 871 gallons of water every day after the big storm in 2005 New Orleans was one of the most deforested cities in the United States but now because of Soul it’s making a comeback by 2023 the soul program had planted almost 8,000 trees throughout the city this is a huge milestone but it still takes time for trees to reach the maturity necessary to absorb enough water to have an impact on the flooding problem in the city and unfortunately time is Something New Orleans doesn’t necessarily have so while the soul project is one step towards saving the city it is not the only solution needed to stop the sinking crisis another nonprofit project launched in New Orleans focuses on Green Landscaping too but not on trees instead it is dedicated to transforming the Landscapes around homes to be more resistant to water particularly in areas of the city prone to flooding the project called the urban Conservancy front yard initiative targets properties near canals and the Mississippi River which are regions that tend to flood first and receive the largest influx of water during storms the initiative involves tearing out pavement and dry clay from people’s yards and Lawns and instead replacing it with gravel and Gardens with native plants resistant to New Orleans weather patterns you might be wondering how much of a difference this could really make but just changing out the soil and yards can have a pretty significant impact on the flooding risk in the city Pavements and Clay do not absorb water well so they cause runoff and allow for flooding gravel on the other hand is porous and absorbs water well so when it rains heavily or the canals in the river overflow gravel Pathways and Gardens are likely to handle the influx of water better than clay and pavement the project has been plowing along at a quick Pace transforming the yards of 155 properties in just the first half of 2023 while that sounds like barely anything these property changes created a large new storage space for water underground adding up to about 650,000 lers of extra space for storm water to go during heavy rain still these projects are expensive especially for New Orleans residents who have to pay for changes to their property this financial obstacle has slowed the spread of the green infrastructure movement in New Orleans for many of these solutions to work they rely on one overarching need the mindset that New Orleans has functioned with for a long time has to change for both residents and the government alike for many years the city was trying to fight Nature by building levies and walls to keep water out of the city but this is made the situation worse now the tactics to save New Orleans depend on a different approach they encourage working with nature instead of against it New Orleans residents are now finding ways to learn to live with water and incorporate it into their lives in ways that don’t cause damage the green infrastructure plans do not try to keep water out but they do try to provide places for the water to go throughout the city so that flooding does not occur on a massive scale even if New Orleans manages to stop the city from sinking the people who live there inevitably will have to deal with water as a constant reality the way they live will have to evolve to deal with the natural challenges in their area and residents of New Orleans are starting to realize that in reality no single answer to the sinking issue is enough this isn’t like the Netherlands flood protection where they don’t have to deal with the threat of hurricanes saving the city will require a combination of many plans including the green infrastructure efforts and likely manual efforts to build up the sediment deposition in the Mississippi River delta and to repair the shoreline erosion that has already taken place but will these efforts come in time to save a city destined to end end up underwater in a few short decades only time will tell if New Orleans will be able to act quickly enough to beat the estimates that the city might become submerged in 25 years and even with all these innovative solutions on the table it will be a major undertaking for New Orleans that will require efforts from everyone in the city from government officials to businesses to individual residents and Property Owners obstacles stand in the way of progressing toward a solution on many fronts one such challenge is of course money it is costly to transform the infrastructure of the city to be more friendly and to plan and build new systems for replenishing sediment in the River delta it is also expensive to maintain systems already in place such as the levies and flood prevention system which are still extremely important in the meantime to prevent flooding as more modern systems like the green infrastructure systems take hold as the city sinks it has had to settle for fending off storm water and flooding so New Orleans has had to continue to raise the height of levies every 10 years and to repair and maintain them regularly another major barrier to the effort is that New Orleans has been sinking at an increased rate which makes the situation even more tense and more expensive as levies sink more quickly and need to be heightened at a faster Pace to adequately prevent flooding it also means that new Solutions need to start working faster to save the city but almost all the plans considered and implemented will take time to become effective there is also the concern of people in the area not getting on board with the effort to save the city for businesses changing their practices to slow the sink can hurt their bottom line and for property owners whose land might be affected by measures put in place to reduce the subsidence the solution suggested could encroach on their private property and lives not all residents are fans of the new measures so a mindset shift is essential to make success more likely for the plans to save the city there are a lot of barriers standing in the way still there is hope many residents of New Orleans love their city as a rich gem in the Southern United States known for its history Jazz and unique blend of cultures from the iconic French Quarter to famous MRA celebrations every February losing New Orleans would also mean losing a major United States Landmark to save the center of culture many Innovative minds are Paving the way forward for a new way to live with the water but the clock is ticking and the question remains will it be enough thank you for watching