By: Alex, Melinda, Bailey, Lucas
Purpose Statement
• To create new and utilize existing urban green spaces as places for community interaction and to aid in the efficient regulation of water management
Vision Statement
• To transform public spaces that would facilitate neighborhood activity, enabling interaction with water and an effective system that manages excess stormwater
Operational/Action Plan
• Survey system of low-lying existing green space, focused in the Lower Ninth Ward
• Collaborate with the city to re-purpose under-utilized and/or vacant lots claimed after the destruction of the hurricane
• Remove debris and prepare land for adaptive reuse of green space
• Develop a schematic site analysis/plan for a system of stormwater retention
• Implement and tailor to specific spaces within the ward’s various neighborhoods
Evaluation & Alternatives
Pros
• Sustainability: using existing land to function as a park and as a plan to manage excess water
• Creating community and developing a relationship to the water system
• The parks will broaden the spectrum of available recreation activities in the community which, in turn, will attract new business
Cons
• Possibility of stagnant water
• Water reaching the retention’s capacity / not able to manage as a whole
• Taking land away from potential economic development
• Management/Maintenance; false sense of security in having complete protection
Political Process
• Contacting city officials for funding of green space development/water management
• Involving volunteer groups and community members to begin turning over land for reuse
• Establishing a development/the need for green space in the Lower Ninth Ward
• Determine zoning ordinances that define the necessity/amount of green space within a certain proximity to the neighborhood
Introduction:
The purpose of this design brief is to create a plan of action for stormwater management in the Lower 9th Ward in the city of New Orleans. The methodology employed is a long term effort to rebuild and revitalize the Lower 9th Ward and create green spaces to function as remediation basins for rainfall and flooding. Because of the events of hurricane Katrina - the levee breach and catastrophic flooding - residents have a suspicion when it comes to water and the process of stormwater management would need to function properly to eliminate these reservations. This brief explores case studies and provides a plan of steps to take to initiate the process of integrating green spaces into the neighborhood.
Review of Literature:
Source #3
The city of New Orleans, even before Hurricane Katrina, had an inadequate amount of green space per capita. Many of the parks in the New Orleans area are utilized for events or private functions such as Jackson Square or Audubon Park with its zoo and golf course. The majority of the park space in the city of New Orleans is concentrated in City Park, one of the largest urban parks in the nation comprised of 1300 acres; the residents in close proximity to City Park are generally wealthy and have several options for transportation. People of lower socioeconomic status are less likely to have the same access to transportation that allows them to travel to these recreation areas.
Hurricane Katrina brought on another issue of use and destroyed many of the parks that New Orleans’ residents utilized. Many of the parks soon housed FEMA trailers and became a place of refuge for New Orleanians. Sewage and electricity were of basic necessity to the residents and the parks began to take on a new role as fenced in trailer parks. Many of the parks remained closed today because of the degradation from semi-permanent structures eliminating plant life and natural topography.
New Orleans officials began to remove buildings that have been condemned for reasons of being more than 50% damaged, health risks and/or fees accessed to the owners for lack of maintenance; these structures are known as Imminent Health Threats (IHT). The demolition of these structures is controversial yet their removal allows for potential park space to evolve and be used by the residents that live in proximity to the spaces. In the Lower Ninth Ward many buildings deemed as IHT have already been demolished and the resulting open space is currently owned by the city. A solution that would accommodate the citizens of the Lower Ninth Ward as well as city officials would be to rejuvenate these spaces and transform them into stormwater retention parks. These parks would then create a safe and secure space for children and their families to go. By having a center for the residents to come together and interact with one another, there would be sense of community created which is also immensely needed in this area.
In order to analyze the Lower Ninth Ward more carefully in terms of the optimal location of these parks, there are several steps we must proceed with. First, a sectional study would be conducted to find the lowest lying areas within the ward. Second, we would map the demographics of the neighborhoods to discover who the occupants are and the needs they would have for recreation areas. Most importantly, we would calculate the percentage of children under the age of 13 in the Lower Ninth Ward to find out whether the parks should be catered to a younger population or an aging population. The third step we would take would be to map the demolished buildings and research who owns these specific sites. Often lots are taken over by the city dues to fees to the owner for not maintaining the lot. If the city owns the property, we would follow legal procedure to re-appropriate the land for use as a stormwater retention areas and accessible green space. Lastly, we would study the proximity of clusters of vacant lots to the concentration of residents. Because the Lower Ninth Ward has an excess of open space and is lacking in density, it would be most appropriate to locate the green spaces near current residents.
Most of the demolition sites are located in areas that have a lower socioeconomic status and whose residents have little resources to return home after Hurricane Katrina. The Lower Ninth Ward is largely African American and when they witness the abundance of IHT buildings being torn down, it is evident that these areas were forgotten long before the hurricane. It is crucial for the city to create valuable spaces for interaction and recreation within every planning district and it is especially important in the Lower Ninth Ward where the entire community needs help in order to be physically and emotionally rebuilt.
Source #4
New Orleans is comprised of 17 wards with the ninth ward being the largest, geographically. “In the 1910’s the city of New Orleans began a massive pumping operation, spearheaded by the engineer A. Baldwin Wood, where the groundwater from beneath the city was removed to allow for increased development and expansion” (Dessauer, 3). The ninth ward was already below sea level and by removing the water; the elevation of the land subsided and left the area prone to an increased risk of flooding. “In the 1920’s the industrial canal was constructed through the area effectively bisecting the area and furthering its isolation for the central core of the city” (Dessauer, 3).
The Lower Ninth Ward was developed for sugar cane plantations and other agricultural purposes; it was one of the last areas to be occupied due to its low lying, swampy terrain. “The low cost of housing in the 9th ward served to concentrate the population of poor, working class laborers” (Dessauer, 3). Many of the houses in the Lower Ninth Ward were “transient in nature” due to the lower socioeconomic status of its’ residents; no houses were recorded to having been occupied in the ward before the 1920s.
“In 2000 the population of the Lower 9th Ward was 14,008 persons and with 98.3% of the population being African-American, is one of the most segregated neighborhoods in New Orleans” (Dessauer, 4). The Lower Ninth Ward, according to the 2000 Census, consists of 25% of households with less than $10,000 annual income; half of the populace lives with less than $20,000. “Over half of the population in the ward is categorized as ‘not in the labor force,’ mainly because they have ceased looking for work” (Dessauer, 4). The area residents have a lack of accessible transportation due to the inability to afford a car, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, no public transportation routes run through the Ward.
“Prior to hurricane Katrina the Lower Ninth Ward had the highest rates of Home Ownership in the city of New Orleans” (Dessauer, 6). The Ward is comprised of many 1950’s homes that were passed down from generation to generation, resulting in occupancy that is long term. Many homeowners seem to choose to stay in the neighborhood and home they grew up in. The “long term occupancy rates may also be a reflection of the high poverty rates resulting in a lack of affordable housing options on behalf of the residents” (Dessauer, 6).
In 2009 the Lower Ninth Ward reported a population of 13,979 people with an average household size of about 3. The median household income was $28,152 and the average number of vehicles available in a household was 1.3.
Before Hurricane Katrina, only one public park serviced the neighborhood, Sam Bonart Playground. Currently according to the City of New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways website, there are five public parks in the Lower Ninth Ward. They include Bonart Playground (1200 Forstall), Florida Playground (corner of Florida and Tupelo), Oliver Bush (on Caffin at Law), Richard Lee Playground (2200Andry), and Roffignac Playground (corner of Alabo & N. Dorgenois). These parks range in size from a third of acre to four and a half acres. They provide numerous facilities including baseball diamonds, basketball courts, football fields, playground equipment, tennis courts, and a public pool.
Source #5
An effort known as The Recovery Plan for the city of New Orleans was established post Hurricane Katrina in order to provide disaster relief to the areas affected by major flooding. The Lower Ninth Ward is grouped with the Holy Cross neighborhood to become Planning District Eight. The report outlines goals such as a “flood protection system [that] will be designed to withstand future catastrophic loss from a 1 in 100 year storm and that this is a commitment by the Federal Government” (“City,” 2). It is implied that such a system will be carried out via a number of smaller interventions that begin at the neighborhood scale, for example, parks and open spaces that may serve as buffers to protect against potential flood damage. According to the plan, there were several park spaces in the Lower Ninth Ward pre-Katrina but these were overcrowded due to a high number of residents under the age of 18 and they were accessible solely to the eastern boundary of the district. The most significant source of open space is the Mississippi River Levee System itself, though it is more of a natural area and to the north, acts mainly as a buffer zone overgrown with plant life and remains inaccessible due to a system of railroad tracks immediately adjacent to it (“City,” 7.) See Appendix Figure 1 for a map of the green space within the neighborhood district. The report also discusses neutral zones, or dead green areas along the median, on St. Claude and N. Claiborne Avenues, that are ineffectively maintained and currently do not serve any benefit. Situations such as these necessitate the incorporation of green spaces integral to managing stormwater and remaining accessible to all members of the community.
“The Parks Improvement Plan undertaken by the New Orleans Parks and Recreation Department and improvements by the Army Corp of Engineers Mitigation Plan had led to the restoration of several area parks and recreational facilities. Unfortunately these improvements did not survive the storm and flooding” (“City,” 10). Perhaps the mismanagement or misplacement of these green areas was not comprehensive in relation to the layout of the Lower Ninth Ward. Planning the undeveloped areas of the neighborhood are just as important as planning the built area. Our hope is that an open park space can serve as this needed buffer for flooding, by implementing a system of effective stormwater management as a part of the open space. This may develop in the form of retaining ponds or underground basins. Components of this plan, dated from September 2006 show a map with proposed green space in the forms of parks, bike paths and playgrounds. Though recreation is a key to building community, these spaces can function just as equally in benefiting the environment.
Source #6
As noted in many studies, the development of a sustainable plan to rebuild and re-adapt existing cities to effectively function on the support of environmental resources is becoming more of a necessity than an innovation. In “Green Infrastructure,” Mark Benedict discusses the importance of creating a framework for planning that addresses the conservation of open space and uniting it in a network to benefit the population in surrounding neighborhoods. For the Lower Ninth Ward, this translates into small pocket parks that would be located on previously abandoned lots, acting as hubs within the residential street to draw residents together and rebuild the community value that is a part of New Orleans culture. Organizations such as the Green Infrastructure Work Group established in 1999 have already been working at the goal of integrating such sustainable practices into city and regional planning policies (Benedict, 12).
The concept of greening urban areas has existed since the turn of the 20th Century, however the need to implement green space is more important now than ever, as New Orleans and other fragile areas along the nation’s coastline and elsewhere recognize a co-dependence with the environment to maintain a resilient future. According to Benedict, the term green infrastructure is innovative in several ways in that emphasizes ecology over recreation, a larger urban scale and a framework in which developed areas can serve as catalysts for future growth and incorporation of similar open spaces as the city boundary expands. As land continues to be developed in a manner that disregards the natural environment and its resources, or in the case of New Orleans the previously developed land where only a home’s foundation might remain, the landscape remains isolated and fragments what once was natural open space. “Natural systems provide important services such as flood control, stormwater management and pollution filtration. The loss of these services increases the risk of floods and natural disasters, costing communities billions in mitigation and disaster relief efforts” (Benedict, 14). Restoring green space to the Lower Ninth Ward, in addition to providing a community gathering space, simultaneously serves an area that can control the excess stormwater through a system of effective drainage and filtration areas, or retaining basins that reside underneath the green space.
An additional way of maintaining sustainable value in greening a city’s infrastructure would be to determine where to develop green space and where not to develop. New Orleans as it stands is already a controversial landscape in terms of supporting a large city, but now that is has expanded in such a way that battles with its natural resources, it is important to consider these initial steps in future planning. Benedict mentions the city of Arnold, Missouri and how buying endangered flood plain property and creating green ways from the landscape, significantly reduced potential costs of disaster relief and flood repair to the surrounding area. Such preservation efforts have even led to pushing government officials to think of sustainable planning in light of “...increased marketability and resale value of homes near open space, parks and green ways; smart growth policies and programs at the state, regional and community levels; and Federal water quality mandates” (Benedict, 15).
To reiterate the importance of green infrastructure according to Benedict, efforts should be grounded in the knowledge of people from various disciplines, professions and include a public voice, as well as becoming a primary investment rather than an afterthought. In New Orleans, steps must be taken to raise the importance of this issue to city officials, local governmental and non-governmental organizations and Lower Ninth Ward residents and community members. Discussing potential effects of living with the abandoned homes that could become these beneficial green spaces may help to stir concern in the matter or revitalizing them for an ecological use.
Methodology:
Our approach to outlining a report for the revitalized green space and effective water management for the Lower Ninth Ward began with defining why we saw the situation as a problem to be concerned with in the first place. Even pre-Katrina, there was an issue of water management in all of New Orleans, but especially in low-lying vulnerable areas like the Lower Ninth Ward. The main problem is that six years past a devastating storm, this neighborhood remains a dilapidated shell, whose vacant properties stand as reminders of a lack of green space and of an area with very little protection from a potential flood. The situation is frustrating because, with aid from the city and various organizations, these spaces can be transformed into functional urban parks and retain stormwater in a way that is also aesthetic and interactive.
As many lots and former park spaces stand abandoned after the hurricane, there is potential to use them to protect the fragile area from severe flooding and damage. By transforming these existing spaces, it is possible to balance the idea for an open, accessible green space with a system to regulate stormwater. The stakeholders in tackling this project would include everyone from the city council and insurance companies down to the ward’s residents. Steps would be taken to collect data on existing low-lying areas and those that are currently abandoned, vacant, and/or severely damaged. Further task are outlined in our approach following this section.
Approach:
The initial step to implement a sustainable park system for stormwater management begins with reviewing the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website to determine low-lying areas of the Lower Ninth Ward. Such information can be found in looking under the Maps & Imagery portion of the online source and searching the digital topography maps for New Orleans. While mapping and noting these areas, information should then be formatted into a specific report outlining the aforementioned goals and strategies and presented to the city officials and city planning groups. Assuming an approval to move forward could be obtained, the subsequent step includes investigating the specific sites of vacant land. This information could be collected through mapping and then coordinated with the city to determine ownership of the land and how it could be turned over for revitalization into park space . Comparing the urban density to the potential areas for open space development, we could pinpoint locations to begin implementing this re-adaptation. Once sites within the Lower 9th are determined, the plan would be presented to local organizations, NGOs and community members themselves to gauge a community response and get a sense for what how they would like the park space to serve them, in addition to retention for stormwater. The plan should be brought to local attention to begin to raise awareness to the community of a scheme for revitalization. It is important to involve the individuals of the neighborhood in the process, along with the local organizations; the project is less likely to meet resistance on the local level. Notifying the residents of the 9th Ward early on may potentially lead to increase in local assistance in creating and maintaining the park spaces. Such participation would inspire involvement; creating an activist community that would emphasize the necessity of these green spaces in the neighborhood, and hopefully serve as a model for future neighborhoods..
Efforts would be made to coordinate these various groups and form teams to begin rebuilding by initially clearing land and removing debris from the chosen sites. Many volunteer groups from around the world come to the Lower 9th Ward for experiential immersion in sustainable community rebuilding. The Lower 9th Ward Village, a community warehouse - turned public meeting venue - also serves as a space to coordinate these volunteer efforts by providing service projects such as this one. See Appendix for contact information. A simultaneous task to collaborating with the community would be to involve the city planners and stormwater engineers to lay out a system for retention. The engineers and designers would finalize a plan and begin construction once the plan is approved by the city. See Appendix Figure 2 for task chart outlining these basic tasks.
Funding:
Funding is required for a project of this magnitude - the amount of property necessary to create the stormwater management parks is significant as well as the efforts needed to construct the sites. City and neighborhood proximity requirements would need to be addressed. The city currently considers the adjoining green space along the levee wall as the neighborhood’s park area yet no residents occupy or utilize this space. The levee wall has a negative association because of the levee breach during hurricane Katrina in 2005 and residents have no desire to access this space for community events or recreational purposes.
Many times funding for a park comes from grants from the city, state, or federal levels as well as private interest groups. Below are examples of places to find many of these grants. This project with its many functions helps to qualify the parks as not only recreational green spaces, but also as a catalyst in community development and in stormwater management.
Grants.gov
This is a one stop shop for many federal grants. You can choose from various to allow for many options within the categories. A unique feature is the Grant Opportunity Notification which will notify you of grants announcements from the Federal Grants Opportunities FGO when grants become available based on your selection of agencies, grant categories, interest or eligibility groups allowing for one to apply for more grants as the project progresses.
Finding Funders - The Foundation Center's Grantmaker Web Sites
The Foundation Center maintains and regularly updates four distinct directories of annotated links to more than 2,400 grant maker Web sites. The links are organized by grant maker type, which are described on the Web page.
Earth Share
Earth Share, a federation of America's leading non-profit environmental and conservation organizations, works to promote environmental education and charitable giving through workplace giving campaigns. The project would potentially qualify for these grants if the educational portion of the project is realized.
Many other organizations have found creative ways to fund their park projects, On example of this is enterprise funding. “These funds are specifically developed by the agency for a specialized program and facility accounts. The intent of the fund is for that facility or program, or in this example the park, to operate without the benefit of tax revenues or other funds. Enterprise funds in the public sector are a relatively new phenomena and perhaps a wave of the future. In public sector of parks and recreation services, enterprise funds were developed to circumvent a growing rebellion against taxation for quality of life issues.” (Schwartz).
Concerns:
Contaminants:
Pesticides, metals, oil, sediment, animal waste and other pollutants can be picked up and suspended in the Mississippi river, Bayou Bienvenue and Industrial canal - the three major bodies of water near the Lower 9th Ward. Stormwater pollution can come from incidental deposits of dust and oil on parking lots which are washed off with rain; but pollution also comes from outdoor washing activities, intentional dumping and accidental spills of chemicals. Another type of waste to consider is the pollutants from construction sites. Especially with the amount of vacant properties in the Lower 9th Ward, we must consider the potential contaminants heavily used in the construction process. The following website directs the user to a Stormwater Management Plan for contractors
For the technical aspects of the project, please follow the link below which demonstrates an active remediation process at Colorado State University. The case study processes chemicals and contaminants out of water used in the university’s green houses. Instead of paying for the water to be taken to a toxic waste facility, CSU decided to utilize a system of filtration on site to rejuvenate the water. The remediation process includes four ponds with specific plant types that filtrate contaminants.
Impervious Surfaces:
The Lower 9th Ward has an immense amount of impervious surfaces and the ground water table is very high due to the topography of the neighborhood. The extensive vacant properties would allow for rain water absorption in most circumstances, but in the Lower 9th the ground is not dry or in need of replenishing water like arid regions in other parts of the country. The retention ponds would serve as an outlet for the excess water to accumulate during times of high volume runoff. The water would be retained until it either evaporated or is infiltrated into the soil.
Hazardous Water:
The stormwater retention ponds consist of stagnant water with no avenue for flow. When water doesn’t move, disease and bacteria begin to form. It would be a challenge to maintain clean water, non potable of course, but clean enough to be accessible for trails and plant life. The solution we would explore would be to aerate the water and maintain its levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, the two highest concentrated nutrients found in stagnant water. The process of phytoremediation is also a process that could be involved to process the toxins out of the soil.
Phytoremediation:
The process of phytoremediation utilizes plant species to purify the stagnant water and remove toxins from the soil. The process involves specific species of plants that remove the toxins through the roots systems; the toxins are processed through the stem and to the leaves. The leaves then fall off and the filtration process begins again. More information about phytoremediation can be found at the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s article called “A Citizen’s Guide to Phytoremediation”
Conclusion:
It is clear that New Orleans, and especially the Lower 9th Ward are in desperate need of a stormwater management system that would function both on a day to day basis as well as in hurricane and flooding seasons. According to the Master Plan and Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance the City Planning Commission approved in 2010, “New Orleans will always continue to require engineered drainage systems and pumps. However, stormwater engineering increasingly is adapting the lessons of natural systems to controlling and filtering runoff. These techniques can be applied at any scale, from backyard rain gardens to streets and city parks...and will help the city manage water, mitigate flooding and reduce subsidence” (Master Plan). The Master Plan is a reference tool for the zoning ordinances for the Lower 9th as well as accessible funding. The US Green Build Council performed a charrette on efforts that need to be made in the city of New Orleans, the process uncovered a list of ten essential steps to undertake. Some of the steps that would accommodate the introduction of stormwater management are as follows. The second step is to “restore natural protections of the greater New Orleans region”. The step states to “sustain and restore the coastal and floodplain ecosystems and urban forests that support and protect the environment, economy, communities, and culture of southern Louisiana, and that contribute greatly to the economy and well-being of the nation” (US Green Building Council). Another step is number five to “protect the city of New Orleans” by the following: “expand or build a flood protection infrastructure that serves multiple uses. Value, restore, and expand the urban forests, wetlands and natural systems of the New Orleans region that protect the city from wind and storms” (US Green Building Council). The tenth step to “focus on the long term” is also fundamental to the survival of the Lower 9th and would align with the initiatives of stormwater management. “All measures related to rebuilding and ecological restoration, even short-term efforts, must be undertaken with explicit attention to the long-term solutions” (US Green Building Council).
Appendix:
Lower 9th Ward Village
1001 Charbonnet Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70117
Office Phone: (504) 304-7868
Email: lower9thwardvillage@gmail.com
http://www.lower9thwardvillage.org/new/
Figure 1
Figure 2
Citations:
1. A Citizen’s Guide to Phytoremediation. United States Environmental Protection Agency,
2. First 267 Structures Set to Be Demolished or Remediated Under the Imminent Health Threat Ordinance. Mayor’s Press Office.
3. Shepard, Nora. New Orleans Park Space (and Schools): Opportunity for Improvement. 2008. pg 1-15.
4. Dessauer, James. Physical, Economic, and Social Attributes of the New Orleans Ninth Ward. New Orleans Planning Initiative – Cornell University. 2006. pg 1-7.
5. City of New Orleans. Lower Ninth Ward Planning District Rebuilding Plan. New Orleans: New Orleans City Council, 2006.
6. Benedict, Mark A. and Edward T. McMahon. “Green Infrastructure: Smart Conservation for the 21st Century.” Renewable Resources Journal 20 (2002): 12-17.
7. Schwartz, Terry G. Illinois Periodicals Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2011.
8. "Search NORD Facilities." City of New Orleans. City of New Orleans, n.d. Web. 1 Dec 2011.
9. Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana, Urban Mapping, Inc. 2011.
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Lower-Ninth-Ward-New-Orleans-LA.html
10. New Orleans City Planning Commission. 2010.
11. Wilson, Alex. The New Orleans Principles: Celebrating the Rich History of New Orleans Through Commitment to a Sustainable Future.
12. A Citizen’s Guide to Phytoremediation. United States Environmental Protection Agency,
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