2018 Abstract Volume

Increasing infrastructure resilience in New Orleans to enhance
environmental protection
Presenting
Author:
Mr. Laurent Auguste, Veolia, France
Keywords
resilience, hurricane, scenarios, vulnerability, climate
Highlights
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused flooding in 80% of New Orleans, causing raw sewage spills leading to
significant ecological damage. To be proactive, the city did a risk analysis of the most critical assets. The
vulnerability of the water infrastructure was evaluated using current and future climate risk scenarios.
Introduction and objectives
New Orleans has made it a priority to better understand its exposure to a broader set of future risks,
transform its systems and become more resilient. Resilience requires global risk management to optimize
prevention costs and reduce post-event environmental, economic, and social losses, and the length of the
recovery period. The ultimate solution for this region will be a combination of improved grey infrastructure
and leveraged green infrastructure.
The local utility provides critical drainage, wastewater and freshwater services to the city. Failure of these
trigger infrastructures would have significant impacts on the City’s public health, living ecosystems and global
attractiveness.
Methodology approach
30 environmental infrastructure and insurance experts, coordinated with city stakeholders to examine 200
drinking water, sanitation and rainwater evacuation facilities, to determine their degree of vulnerability and
to recommend the appropriate action to ensure resilience while reducing environmental impact. The
Technical and Risk Assessment delivers a detailed and structured resilience plan, focusing on medium to
major risks; improved response and recovery time; and a threat analysis on inhabitant safety, business
interruption costs, assets damages and environmental exposure over time. One month of city downtime
represents five times the expected annual damage to city assets and biodiversity enhancements.
Analysis and results
Key steps for the project included:
Calculation of baseline exposure of physical assets. Approximately 200 Assets worth $3.4bn (13 WWTP, 132
MGD – 1,600 miles/ 83 Sewage pump stations/ 59 WTP, 146 MGD – 353,000 people/35 Drainage pumping
stations, 29 BGD) were
Calculation of year 2050 climate exposure of current assets and ecosystems. More than 150,000 hurricane
events were modeled in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico
Tracking and monitoring actions and progress using a tailored Resilience tool. The tool supported local
decision-makers by identifying assets’ criticality and by modeling a threat analysis to determine priorities and
build a long-term adaptation strategy including the level of impact on the environment.
Modeling the impact of selected resilience-oriented improvements on current and future climate scenarios
to determine potential cost savings.
Development of a strategic plan to optimize investment funds for risk and cost reduction for taxpayers.
The results of the risk analysis provided the city with a detailed strategic infrastructure and environmental
plan with prioritized mitigation measures and the basis for an adapted risk transfer strategy, as well as the
necessary tools to monitor the implementation progress and effectiveness of these measures.
Seminar: Sustainable infrastructure for inclusive green growth 128