Latest Mississippi River Delta News: August 25, 2015
10 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Is Becoming A Model For Climate Resilience
*features Doug Meffert, NAS, John Lopez, LPBF & Simone Maloz, ROR
By Kate Sheppard, Huffington Post. August 24, 2015
“But the most recent master plan, released in 2012, is a “masterpiece,” Meffert said, based on sound science for what the region can expect as the climate changes and seas rise.”It did what no other master plan or general plan had done before — drew a map of Louisiana with projects that were impactful and doable, and it really for the first time put on the map what we could save,” he said.” (Read More)
Closer than Ever to the Water’s Edge
By Maria Gallucci, International Business Times. August 24, 2015
“Regardless of human-made barriers, a healthier, thicker wetland zone would have diminished the force of the deadly storm surge. With this idea in mind, two years after Katrina, Louisiana launched a $50 billion Coastal Master Plan to help rebuild part of what’s been lost. The sweeping strategy outlines more than 100 projects for coastal restoration, including building rocky barriers to block saltwater intrusion, dumping replenishing river sediment on the banks of streams and building artificial oyster reefs to reduce erosion from waves and slow the spread of storm surge.” (Read More)
Editorial: From Katrina’s ruin: New Orleans strives to build a stronger city
By Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune. August 21, 2015
“The coastline around southern Louisiana also is eroding, and New Orleans is sinking. No surprise that “coastal restoration” is a hot topic, and we urge Landrieu to support more of it. New Orleans and other communities along the Gulf are poised to receive portions of an $18.7 billion settlement with BP over the 2010 Deep Horizon oil spill. New Orleans and its neighbors should invest their shares strictly in coastal restoration efforts.” (Read More)
Good Morning New Orleans (video)
*features Doug Meffert, NAS
WGNO. August 24, 2015
“Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast more than $14.5 billion has been used to construct an upgraded levee system to better protect its residents and their property.
However, scientists say the best way to protect from future storms is with multiple lines of defense anchored by a restored coast, and they claim the coast is still facing significant land loss.” (Read More)
Is New Orleans in danger of turning into a modern-day Atlantis?
By David Uberti, The Guardian. August 24, 2015
“It is estimated that every 2.7 miles of coastal wetlands absorbs a foot of storm surge. But over the past century, without seasonal flooding to nurture them with more sediment, land has eroded faster than the natural rate. Construction of thousands of miles of canals to serve offshore oil and gas drilling sites only accelerated this pace. Various scientific studies have suggested such manmade waterways directly or indirectly caused 30% or more of the wetland loss, allowing saltwater to creep in and kill plants whose roots keep the soil together.” (Read More)
Are New Orleans’ post-Katrina flood defenses strong enough? (video)
By William Brangham, PBS NewsHour. August 24, 2015
“Denise Reed says it’s not totally helpless. Scientists and engineers have figured out a way to rebuild the wetlands. And they do it by replicating the old Mississippi floods. Engineers cut huge gates into the levees along the river at certain spots, like this big concrete structure here. That allows freshwater and dirt to flood out into the weakened marshes along.” (Read More)
A Design to Stop Louisiana from Drowning by Adding Faucets to the Mississippi
By Adele Peters, Co.Exist. August 25, 2015
“It’s also a solution that could work elsewhere. “We’re creating a strategy here that could really become an international model for how to deal with sea level rise,” Ford says. “Many of the major cities and ports in the world are in river delta locations, where there’s an issue of resilience and storm surges. If New Orleans goes big and bold, and sets a different course for the next 50 years, it really could become a model for the world.” (Read More)
Good Morning Washington (video)
*features Doug Meffert, NAS
WNC8 – Washington,DC. August 24, 2015
“Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast more than $14.5 billion has been used to construct an upgraded levee system to better protect its residents and their property.
However, scientists say the best way to protect from future storms is with multiple lines of defense anchored by a restored coast, and they claim the coast is still facing significant land loss.” (Read More)
Fox 8 Morning Edition (video)
*features Doug Meffert, NAS
WVUE. August 24, 2015
“Levees are only one line of defense. Multiple lines of defense are need to protect coastal communities from future storms.” (Read More)
Fox 26 News – Houston (video)
*features Doug Meffert, NAS
KRIV. August 24, 2015
“You can see just how coastal New Orleans is. This used to be a thriving cypress swamp decades ago and it would have provided recreational fisheries and great habitat for birds, and it would have and did provide a natural line of defense, natural buffer, in terms of storm surge protection.” (Read More)
You & Me This Morning (video)
*features Doug Meffert, NAS
WCIU – Chicago. August 24, 2015
“Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast more than $14.5 billion has been used to construct an upgraded levee system to better protect its residents and their property. However, scientists say the best way to protect from future storms is with multiple lines of defense anchored by a restored coast, and they claim the coast is still facing significant land loss.” (Read More)
News With a Twist/ WGNO News (video)
*features Doug Meffert, NAS
WGNO. August 24, 2015
“The Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition are advocating for a total of 19 restoration projects along the coast. The BP settlement money will jump start some of these projects, but looking forward, the projects are going to need long term funding. It will take a combination of federal, state, and private funding to make it happen.” (Read More)
Best-ever levee system is here to protect property, not lives, experts warn
By Bob Marshall, The Lens. August 25, 2015
“That sinking and erosion has also been removing the wetlands that once protected levees from punishment by the Gulf of Mexico’s waves. Some 2,000 square miles of coastal wetlands have been turned to open water since the 1930s, and more is being loss at the cumulative rate of a football field every hour. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that at those rates the remaining wetlands protecting the levees could be under water before the end of the century.” (Read More)