In the long term, hurricane protection . . . can only be secured with a combination of levees and a sustainable coastal landscape.
  

NOAA Administrator Lautenbacher testifies as House subcommittee hearing


Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Report

A New Framework for Planning the Future of Coastal Louisiana after the Hurricanes of 2005

During December 2005, a working group of 19 natural and social scientists and engineers exchanged perspectives on how coastal ecosystem restoration could be more effectively integrated with planning for improved hurricane protection and future navigational infrastructure. Based on these deliberations the group has prepared a report intended to inform the policies and actions for recovery of regions of Louisiana affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Nine members of the group had previously served on the National Technical Review Committee during the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study. They invited additional national experts-- to broaden their knowledge base and experience-- and leading Louisiana scientists-- to ensure relevance to realistic conditions-- to join a self-organized, independent Working Group. Logistical support for a meeting of the group was provided by the Institute of Water Resources of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Research Council. However, the opinions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Corps, the Federal government or the NRC.

On January 26 the Working Group released a Final Draft of its report, A New Framework for Planning the Future of Coastal Louisiana after the Hurricanes of 2005, provided here in portable document format (pdf).

New!:
Testimony to House Subcommittee on Fisheries and Oceans, March 21, 2006
Working Group member Robert Twilley featured on PBS NewsHour, April 4, 2006
Washington Post editorial The Last Puzzle Piece April, 14, 2006
Working Group member presentations at Envisioning the Future of the Gulf Coast
A New Framework heavily cited in Senate Katrina report May, 2006
How New Orleans Was Flooded (Times-Picayune Shockwave interactive graphic)
Working Group members on NPR Living on Earth feature, June 2, 2006
AGU report: Hurricanes and the U.S. Gulf Coast: Science and Sustainable Rebuilding, June 2006
Corps of Engineers: 2006 Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration, July 2006 (pdf flie,(11.6 MB)

   
 

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University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science