WATER WISE WORKSHOPS TO INFORM RESIDENTS HOW TO REDUCE FLOODING
New Orleans faces many challenges with its drainage system. We are learning that climate change will add another challenge to the drainage system. Scientists are predicting that rainfall rates will increase in Southeast Louisiana due to climate change. More rainfall means that we need to rethink how we manage rainwater so that we can avoid future flood events.
Water Wise NOLA is a collaboration of Dana Brown and Associates, Recharge NOLA and Global Green that is funded by the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. We are promoting green infrastructure to complement the gray infrastructure system that is already in place. Green infrastructure utilizes natural systems to manage rainwater. Examples of green infrastructure include rain gardens, rain barrels, cisterns, french drains, bioswales, planter boxes, trees, and more. Keeping our storm drains clean is also paramount to a functioning drainage system.
Water Wise NOLA has developed a partnership between the Greater Treme Consortium and Healthy Community Services to engage residents in the Treme and 7th Ward about the benefits of green infrastructure.
When operating at its full capacity, the pumping system can only handle an inch of rainfall for the first hour and then half an inch per hour for the remaining time-span of the storm event. By incorporating green infrastructure at your home or business, we can begin to relieve pressure on the drainage system. Green infrastructure allows rainwater to be filtered and detained on site. It provides multiple benefits, such as mitigating flooding, protecting the water quality of Lake Pontchartrain, reducing air pollution and beautifying our neighborhoods.
During the month of April, Water Wise NOLA, the Greater Treme Consortium and Healthy Community Services will host three Water Wise Workshops that focus on do-it-yourself green infrastructure solutions to address flooding. The workshops are the same but will be offered at different locations and times to accommodate people’s schedules. This 1.5 hour workshop will introduce New Orleans’ unique drainage system, the problems that it faces, green infrastructure examples as tools to improve the drainage system and will end with how to identify green infrastructure opportunities on your property. Although the workshops are geared towards residents and business owners in Treme and the 7th Ward, they are free and open to the general public.
Workshop Dates and Location
Saturday, April 7th at 10:00am-11:30am
St Augustine High School Cafeteria
2600 AP Tureaud Avenue
Thursday, April 12th at 6:00pm-7:30pm
St Paul’s Lutheran Church
1625 Annette Street
Monday, April 16th at 6:00pm-7:30pm
St Luke’s Episcopal Church
1222 N Dorgenois Street
Please RSVP to the workshops online at bit.ly/aprilwaterwise or call 504-475-7749.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu