How to manage flooding while improving the cityscape
The Blue and Green Corridors project in New Orleans invites water back into the community
Scroll to Explore
THE CONCEPT:
Living With Water
Water is part of the natural environment of New Orleans, a city built on swampland that has been continually drained of its water to make the city habitable. Blue and Green Corridors invite the water back into the community.
On a normal day, the canal system will hold between 4 and 6 feet of water, leaving plenty of extra space for stormwater from smaller rainfalls. The water level is set one foot higher than the surrounding water table to reduce subsidence in the neighborhood.
Everyday water level and very small rainfalls
City drainage pumps lower the water levels in anticipation of a large storm event. Additional volume of canal becomes available for flood storage.
Preparation for a large storm
In large storm events, water is temporarily stored within the canal system to allow for the stormwater management network to catch up. This reduces the amount of flooding in the neighborhood.
Completed project under storm conditions
Find out more about how landscape architecture makes our communities resilient, livable, and beautiful.
New Orleans has dealt with its share of flooding and disasters. Its topography is susceptible to flooding, as a substantial portion of the city sits below sea level.
Landscape architects are working with engineers, hydrologists, and urban planners to think differently about managing water in New Orleans.
1
2
3
4
Linear wetlands provide flood storage volume and water quality improvements.
1
Blue corridors
2
Optimize lane numbers and widths, reduce impervious cover, and provide designated, separated bike lanes for safe cycling.
Complete streets
3
Pathways weave along the linear wetlands, shaded by new and existing trees, connecting playgrounds, seating areas, and adult fitness activities along the way.
Path system
4
Beautify the neighborhood, keep canal water cool, and reduce the heat island effect.
Tree canopies
1
2
2
Stormwater within linear wetland system is continuously circulated, cleansing and filtering it to ensure the canal is a living, healthy system—a neighborhood amenity—not merely a flood storage device.
Living water body
1
Dense planting creates a beautiful and habitat-rich landscape that stabilizes steep slopes and is more easily maintained than lawn.
Vegetated slopes
1
3
2
1
Provide gathering spaces within the neighborhood and contribute to the social resilience of the community.
Expanded walkways and seating
2
Uses natural processes of sedimentation, filtration, sorption, plant uptake, and microbial breakdown to remove contaminants.
Linear wetland
3
Playgrounds, adult fitness, and shady seating areas interspersed along linear waterways.
Recreational programming
The Blue and Green Corridors project is giving New Orleans a chance to live with water and to make it an asset, not a burden. As a result the community will be better connected, and better prepared to weather the next storm.
Read more
The Blue and Green Corridors project is a network of 8 miles of linear green infrastructure in the form of bioswales, linear wetlands, and floodable parks.
The corridors receive flood waters, allowing them space in the neighborhood in order to delay peak flood and mitigate impacts from the most frequent storms in the city. These long systems make the movement of water visible and act as beautiful park-like connectors, linking recreational activities along them and inviting the community to move, play, and socialize.
01
03
02
03
03
03
Playground
Adult Fitness
Plaza
Seating
Water Access
Blue Corridor
Floodable Park
Green Corridor
Storm Prep
Water table
Water table
1'
Backwater channel
Seating
Water Access
Playground
Adult Fitness
Daily
Storm
Dry
Storm
Elysian Fields Avenue is defined by an elevated 100 foot wide neutral ground. Neutral grounds are large lawn medians that run between certain streets in New Orleans. While permeable themselves, they sit high in relation to surrounding streets and homes, so they do not collect stormwater from these areas.
Site today under dry conditions
During a rain event, stormwater has nowhere to go and often floods the first floors of neighborhood homes.
Site today under storm conditions
Click to view
Read more
Floodable Park
The water table is continuously pumped, causing subsidence throughout New Orleans' neighborhoods.
Neutral grounds sit high in relation to the surrounding neighborhood. Although permeable, they are the last area to flood in a storm.
Neutral grounds are the last areas to flood, as they typically sit on high ground.
Water pipe flow
site today Conditions
Completed Project Conditions