WaterMarks Interview with Jerome Zeringue

Coastal Plan Maximizes Synergy Between Protection and Restoration

Jerome Zeringue is Director of Planning and Programs for the Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities

Watermarks: For the second time in three years, Louisiana was hit in 2008 by a pair of major hurricanes. What did we learn from the storms Katrina and Rita that influenced preparations for Gustav and Ike?

Zeringue: Even though Rita and Ike had storm surges nearly identical in height, the aftermath of these storms was considerably different. Katrina and Rita exposed the need to coordinate preparations for and response to storm events among all the federal, state and local agencies responsible for coastal protection and restoration. Consequently, the state of Louisiana created the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration (OCPR). Using a team approach, OCPR organized the functions and roles of offices and agencies that assist districts and municipalities during storms. Operational just a month or so before Gustav and Ike hit, OCPR was able to communicate, provide assistance and coordinate relief efforts quickly.

Watermarks: How did this make a difference to coastal residents?

Zeringue: When your home or community floods, you want the water out of there as fast as possible. In some areas after Rita, it took eight days to get the first pump up and running. In 2008, our coordinated response greatly expedited relief. Working with local levee districts and other agencies, we utilized available equipment and strived to acquire things we knew we would need — pumps, sand bags, gabion baskets and fuel. In several locations pumps were fully operational within two days after the storms hit.

Watermarks: Destruction from Gustav and Ike was not nearly as catastrophic as from Katrina and Rita. Were there other measures that limited damage in 2008?

Zeringue: There’s no doubt we improved our maintenance practices and construction standards based on what we learned from Katrina and Rita. Strengthening New Orleans’ levees reduced the threat of flooding in the city. Encouraging adherence to new, stricter codes limited damage to structures rebuilt after Katrina and Rita.

Our environmental restoration projects continued to moderate storm effects. While Gustav and Ike damaged both restoration and protection projects, the harm to our landscape and communities would have been much greater without these projects in place.

Watermarks: Many experts think that levees are largely to blame for the plight of Louisiana’s wetlands. Isn’t it contradictory to build levees while investing in environmental restoration?

Zeringue: I think there are more opportunities than contradictions — each component has a better chance of success with the other in place. Wetlands and other natural features reinforce and strengthen protective structures; putting both natural and manmade protection in place can significantly reduce storm surge in vulnerable coastal areas. When we construct projects, we have the capability to minimize adverse impacts to sensitive ecosystems. If protection techniques can offset ecological damage, improve the environmental condition of coastal areas, and protect coastal communities, then I think we can justify building flood control levees.

Watermarks: What is the synergy between environmental restoration and hurricane protection?

Zeringue: Fundamentally, an environment restored to health and functionality diminishes degradation from natural forces. For example, wetlands adjoining levees reduce daily wear from wind, waves and tides. While providing essential habitat for both resident and migratory species, ridges and coastal forests also dampen storm surge. During Gustav and Ike, restored barrier islands protected interior marshes. Barrier islands took a hard hit, but if we had not rehabilitated some of them after 2005, they and the marshes that lie behind them would now be in much worse shape.

We’re learning how to use activities serving economic and social purposes to benefit the environment also. For instance, we can use material dredged during maintenance of shipping channels to create wetlands. Or we can operate locks to mitigate saltwater intrusion as well as to accommodate navigation. In addition to providing flood protection, levees can be designed to enhance and sustain wetlands. As we expand and improve our levees, we first look to build on alignments that avoid impounding new areas of wetlands. Then we look to locate reaches where we can reestablish hydrologic exchanges and facilitate delivery of nutrients and sediments to wetlands already enclosed.

As we move forward with the state’s master plan for coastal protection and restoration, synergy between the two approaches is critical. To be consistent with the master plan, each new flood control project must minimize its impact on the environment and endeavor to maintain a functional, sustainable ecosystem.

Watermarks: What do you say to the argument that flood protection encourages development in sensitive coastal areas?

Zeringue: It’s important to realize that we are providing protection to existing development, to communities and infrastructure critical not only to our region but to the nation. It is not that we are migrating to the coast; the coast is migrating toward us. Many unprotected communities are still miles from the gulf, but Louisianans who were not exposed and vulnerable in the past become more exposed and more vulnerable every day and after every storm. There are communities and critical infrastructure that require a coastal presence, that are essential to the safety and well-being of our region, and we must work aggressively to protect and sustain them. There is no single solution to providing protection; we must develop and implement a full range of options.

Watermarks: With so much need and limited funding, how do you prioritize projects?

Zeringue: It’s hard to nail down priorities without specific options to choose from. For hurricane protection we can estimate the worth of assets shielded per mile of levee, but you can’t put a value on the people it protects. For restoration we look at the long-term benefit to the ecosystem, but the monetary worth of that is not well defined.

The state’s master plan is an excellent tool in terms of a conceptual approach. As funding becomes available, we will continue to implement projects within that framework to achieve the greatest benefits for the state’s people and its resources.

Watermarks: If storms increase in intensity and frequency as many climatologists predict, how does that influence our approach to hurricane protection?

Zeringue: No matter what the future trend proves to be, our plan is still to do everything we can, as quickly as we can, to protect critical areas of our coast and to restore sensitive ecosystems. We know we must maximize the synergy between protection and restoration to achieve optimal benefits. But we can achieve a functional, sustainable ecosystem in the coastal region where both natural resources and the human communities survive.