Our Work
Our diverse team links best-practice planning and management with scientific and technical knowledge to help Louisiana communities thrive in a rapidly changing, resource-constrained world.
by Stephen C. Picou and Grasshopper Mendoza
The Louisiana Water Economy: Our Shared Destiny
Findings & Recommendations for the Greater New orleans Region
Building on our groundbreaking work to define and build Louisiana’s water economy, this report identifies key resources and outlines practical steps to accelerate what we believe to be the state’s most significant environmental and socioeconomic opportunity. Thirteen findings and sixteen recommendations paint a picture of possibilities to align Louisiana’s environment, economy, and people into a more integrated, resilient, and thriving system.
Louisiana Water Economy NEtwork
The Louisiana Water Economy Network (LAWEN) is an interdisciplinary group of volunteers working to promote watershed systems-oriented, integrated water management as key to the environmental, economic, and social future of Louisiana. These principles are key components of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, which the organization monitored and supported. Between 2009 and 2017 the group met 75 times, serving as a catalyst for Green Infrastructure, a forum for sharing ideas and information, and a powerful resource for promoting best practices for development in both public and private sectors.
St John the Baptist Parish - Low Impact Development
With EPA funding, CSRS and Adaptation Strategies supported the development of Green Infrastructure/Low Impact Development Program for St. John the Baptist Parish (SJBP). The work included an audit of SJBP ordinances to identify stormwater management solutions and water quality improvements. In 2019 the SJBP Planning Department was recognized as a Community Champion by the USGBC-Louisiana Chapter in part for this effort.
The US Water Alliance
Advancing Water Equity in Small and Rural Communities: The Role of Digital Solutions (2023)
Most people in the United States and its territories are served by small systems that often struggle to maintain services, yet more attention and funding flow to large utilities, exacerbating water equity gaps. Working with the US Water Alliance, the Adaptation Strategies team built upon a strong framework of interviews and ideas regarding the potential of digital technologies to transform small and rural water systems.
Andrea and Vivek evaluating conditions in the field.
Abita River regional Water Quality improvement Project
ST. Tammany Parish
Working with prime contractor CSRS, Adaptation Strategies examined stormwater water quality issues affecting part of the Abita Watershed in St. Tammany Parish. The team assessed the Lake Lambert stormwater retention pond to recommend Best Management Practices (BMPs) to “polish” the stormwater prior to discharge into the Abita River and ultimately into the impaired Tchefuncte River. AS performed water quality monitoring on a suite of physiochemical parameters, nutrients, enteric pathogens, and indicators of oxygen demand. AS also developed an EPA approved Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), and co-authored a Watershed Management and Restoration Plan (WMRP) for the Lake Lambert Watershed. This project is part of a program to restore water quality in the Tchefuncte River with the goal of removing it from the EPA Impaired Waterbodies List for Dissolved Oxygen.
Baronne Street Bikeway
(photo courtesy of Bike Easy)
Connect the Crescent - New Orleans
Connect the Crescent was a 3-month demonstration of a continuous, protected network consisting of enhanced crosswalks, improvements to transit, and protected bikeways which featured barriers separating people biking from automobile traffic on routes leading to and through New Orleans’ French Quarter and Central Business District. The demonstration was active from September to December, 2018.
Adaptation Strategies provided bikeway design and installation management services and guidance.
The Louisiana WATERSHED INITIATIVE
Strategies for FUnding Watershed Management and Flood Risk Reduction in LouIsiana
This white paper prepared for the Louisiana Watershed Initiative examines funding best practices and highlights case studies. A range of solutions are featured, including innovative governance models, flexible federal programs, and collaborative initiatives between nonprofit, commercial, and public entities.
Louisiana Watershed Initiative
This presentation provides an overview of long-term funding mechanisms available to support local, regional and statewide watershed management and flood risk reduction.
Pavement removal and rain garden installation, St. Ann Street, New Orleans.
(photo courtesy of Urban Conservancy)
Healthy Block INitiative - New Orleans
The Healthy Block Initiative (HBI) was established in 2017 as a partnership between New Orleans-based organizations to coordinate early efforts around the burgeoning concept of neighborhood green infrastructure. HBI partners work with property owners to implement green infrastructure on private property to ensure that private property interventions are coordinated with public infrastructure projects.
Adaptation Strategies provided planning and design support for green infrastructure installations and HBI coordination with the City of New Orleans, particularly those funded through FEMA’s Recovery Roads Program.