Here are the latest news stories in local and national water policy for October. We’ve added new features, including WATER FUNDING + FINANCE NEWS and Q&A. Scroll to the end to see these sections.
In The News
Lessons from Hurricane Florence
Charlotte Observer, New York Times, Times-Picayune, News & Observer, Associated Press
This past month, we watched our neighbors in the Carolinas face down Hurricane Florence. The storm caused widespread damage, including at least 45 reported deaths, thousands of displaced residents, more than 1,000 still remaining in shelters, and damage anticipated in the billions. More than two weeks since Florence made landfall, some neighborhoods remain flooded, rivers are still swollen, and recovery will be a long slog.
While it is still early to comment on the full impacts of the storm, we can already see some takeaways from Florence which hold true for many other storms, including:
- Floods hit lower income folks hardest.
- Floods bring environmental hazards (including contamination from industrial farming waste, toxic site spills, and monster mosquitos). In the Carolinas, the water pollution is even visible from space.
- Water is wet (and dangerous). Our friends over at the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy point out that, while we tend to focus on hurricane winds, it is the water from rain and storm surge that have devastated communities in Florence’s path (and in Houston last year, and Baton Rouge the year before that): “The point here is not that the dangers of hurricane winds are overemphasized but that the risks posed by acute rain events and chronic sea level rise are underemphasized. Way underemphasized. As a result, too many people and communities end up surprised and unprepared for the volumes and duration of floods. No one can be prepared for everything, and 30 inches of rain will be rough to manage no matter what you do. But if we are not planning to better manage occasional big water, then we are planning to be victims of it.”
- You can take steps to reduce flood impacts, including buying flood insurance and tracking storms.
City Council wants its own experts to help oversee the Sewerage and Water Board
The Lens
The New Orleans City Council’s Public Works Committee has advanced a proposal seeking a consultant that could advise the council on technical, legal, and financial issues related to the city’s water and drainage systems. Read more.
Could flood insurance rate maps change for South Louisiana? Authorities to begin talks
The Advocate
State and federal authorities are touring Louisiana to gather data that could cause the borders of the flood zones to shift on FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps, which determine the cost of and requirements for flood insurance based on likelihood that an area will flood. Read more.
Open canals, trees in the works for Gentilly neutral grounds
Times-Picayune
City officials announced the creation of blue and green corridors in Gentilly as part of the Gentilly Resilience District, a $233 million project funded in part by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and federal and local resources. Approximately $45 million will go towards “installing canals (blue) in several large neutral grounds…[and] lining smaller medians with trees (green), lighting and water-capturing features.” Read more.
Bayou Bridge pipeline halted by property rights challenge
Times-Picayune
Construction on the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in the Atchafalaya Basin has been halted thanks to a St. Mary Parish landowners and environmental groups, who filed an injunction against Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, saying the builders would illegally cross their property. Read more.
More Water Headlines
- Black communities in St. James on the losing end of Louisiana’s ‘big win’
- Cantrell’s CleanUp NOLA plan will expand city’s surveillance network
- Finding the root cause of Aug. 5 flood could cost SWB customers more money
- Baton Rouge area enrollment in National Flood Insurance Program spiked after 2016 flood
- New Sewerage & Water Board executive director: ‘We want to do right by the customers.’
- Our Views: Seek permanent deal on flood insurance
- Natural Disaster Mitigation Spending Not Comprehensively Tracked
- Congress appears set to fix ‘duplication of benefits’ problem for 2016 Louisiana flood victims
- Learning to Cope with Stormwater in New Orleans
- Giant Trap Is Deployed to Catch Plastic Littering the Pacific Ocean
Water Funding & Finance
- The Sewerage and Water Board (SWB) is issuing a request for proposals (RFP) from qualified professionals to implement a Green Infrastructure (GI) project. The project must be one or both, to be submitted separately, of the following types:
- Type 1: Plan, develop, implement, maintain, and monitor, one or more self-sustaining/ low maintenance design GI demonstration projects on public land. Projects will include a community outreach and educational component.
- Type 2: Maintain and monitor existing SWB Green Infrastructure sites. Develop and implement a maintenance schedule that includes but is not limited to hand weeding, mowing, environmentally friendly weed applications, spring and fall cleanups, pest management, fertilizer applications, cleaning out all inlets, and replacing and replanting plants as necessary. The maintenance plan should address little prevention and how damage from extreme weather such as freezes, droughts, flood, and strong winds will be resolved.
- The RFP is available here: http://www.swbno.org/business_bidspecifications.asp
Proposals will be due November 15, 2018 no later than 11:00 AM. The total available funding for awards under this competitive opportunity is $843,618, of which, five (5) percent must be DBE. Type 1 and Type 2 projects will be awarded by competitive RFP process.
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that the application period for more than $395 million in hazard mitigation grants is now open nationwide. Eligible applicants — state, local, tribal and territorial governments — may apply for the Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) grants through 3 p.m. EST on Jan. 31, 2019. More information available here.
Water Events
- Adopt-a-Catch Basin District Cleanups, October 20, 27, and November 3. Attend here.
- Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board Meeting – October 24 at 10:30 AM; CPRA is holding its monthly board meeting, this time in Cameron Parish at the Cameron School Board Educational Conference Center. Attend here.
- New Orleans Film Festival – October 19, 21, 23, 25. Featuring a number of Louisiana short films focused on water. Attend here.
Q&A
Do you have water management policy and program questions for Propeller or Water Works? Let us know, and we’ll run them in upcoming newsletters. Email Allison or Miriam.
WaterMark is a monthly briefing on water programs and policies in Louisiana, brought to you by Propeller and Water Works.
