April 8, 2021 | From City of New Orleans
City, NORA Reach Major Milestone with Completion of 100 Homeowner-Driven Stormwater Management Projects as part of the HUD-Funded Gentilly Resilience District
NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans and the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) today announce a major milestone of completing 100 projects in the Community Adaptation Program (CAP), which provides an opportunity for homeowners to retrofit their properties with residential-scale stormwater management improvements. The $5 million CAP, which is managed by NORA, is part of the City's $141 million HUD-funded Gentilly Resilience (GRD) and will benefit up to 200 low-to moderate-income, owner-occupied single-family households. In total, the completed proejcts will be able to hold and manage 144,686 gallons (approximately 3,445 bathtubs) of stormwater in the Gentilly area before allowing it to gradually enter the City's drainage system.
As part of the CAP, homeowners are presented with a variety of green infrastructure interventions from which to choose, including French drains, infiltration trenches, native plantings, permeable surfaces, rain barrels, rain gardens and stormwater planter boxes. The property owner then works direclty with the team of their choosing to determine a feasible design. The design and construction teams of Dana Brown & Associates, Thrive NOLA, Wingate Engineers and Ubuntu Construction Company are working with homeowners to complete projects.
"We are excited to reach this milestone in the Community Adaptation Program," said Project Delivery Unity Manager Joseph Threat. "This program is a great benefit to participating homeowners in the Gentilly neighborhood who are now able to hold stormwater through green infrastructure interventions on their property. We look forward to getting construction underway on more Gentilly Resilience District projects this year."
"With 100 projects completed to date, the Community Adaptation Program has emerged as the model for residential stormwater management in New Orleans and across the county," said NORA Executive Director Brenda M. Breaux. "These projects not only reduce stormwater runoff and the burden on our city's pipes and pumps, but also provide invaluable job training and educational opportunities for our citizens."
In March 2021, the project team completed the final walk-through of the 100th CAP project, where the design and construction teams of Dana Brown & Associates in partnership with Greenman Dan installed a permeable (allows water to move through) paver driveway system, infiltration trenches, rain gardens and a stormwater planter box. The green retrofits to this property combine for a total stormwater storage of 3,298 gallons, which amounts to 2.3 inches of rainfall.
Homeowner Stephanie Thomas said: "The new rain garden and permeable driveway in front of my house are not only eye-catching (my neighbors have been asking me all about them!), but htey have also reduced the amount of front yard flooding that we used to get with heavy rain. I want to thank NORA and the City for this wonderful program. This definitely reduces my rain stress as a homeowner. I wish everyone could participate in this awesome program."
Public engagement is an integral part of the CAP and GRD. The City is continuing to showcase completed projects through a Virtual "CAP Chats" online event series. View previous episodes here. For more information about the Community Adaptation Program, visit nola.gov/resilience, send email to roadwork@nola.gov or call (504) 658-7623.
About the Gentilly resilience district
The $141M HUD-funded Gentilly Resilience District (GRD) is a combination of efforts across the Gentilly neighborhood designed to reduce flood risk, slow land subsidence, improve energy reliability and encourage neighborhood revitalization. Visit www.nola.gov/resilience for more information.
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