Geology ‘map’ for La. urged
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NEW ORLEANS — Most people would not go on summer vacation without a map, Michael Merritt, a geologist and West Bank commissioner for the Southeast Flood Protection Authority, said Friday.
Yet, authorities are poised to spend billions of dollars in hurricane-related public works projects in the post-Katrina New Orleans area — without the best “map” on where homeowners, businesses and industry can build to avoid flooding.
Scientists in recent years have conducted studies of the changing course of the Mississippi River and other geological shifts in southeast Louisiana, but researchers need a more comprehensive “geological bulletin” to help officials map out plans for post-Katrina construction.
Merritt says he and other geologists want to provide expert advice to the Flood Protection Authority and other officials, “but we don’t have a “map” because our parishes have never been mapped in detail by the state.”
“We’ve never had a geological bulletin on Orleans Parish (or) Jefferson Parish,” Merritt said. St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes were the subject of a geographical bulletin in 1936, but that report is out of date. He said the cost of a bulletin is a “small investment,” especially considering the billions of dollars in hurricane projects.
Authorities in the hurricane-damaged New Orleans area would do best to follow the example of East Baton Rouge Parish, whose Department of Public Works conducted a joint 1991 study of geological changes in the area — with the Louisiana Geological survey.
“We wish we had that here,” the geologist said. In response to a question, the geologist said 17 years is not that long for Baton Rouge to go without updated information. “The rocks haven’t changed that much,” he chuckled.
Starting in 1869, the state of Louisiana once did a better job than most states at publishing geology reports for developing communities — but the state has slacked off, Merritt said. “Louisiana had a great tradition for geological research,” he said. Geologists enjoyed a “heyday” from the 1930s through about the 1950s, when geological bulletins were issued with regularity.
However, after Acadia and Jefferson Davis parishes were mapped in 1962, “30 years slipped by with no geological bulletins on any of the parishes,” he lamented.
“Our geological survey compared to all other states in the Union is on a starvation funding level,” he said. “We need to get back to what we were doing so well for so long, publishing basic geographical state-sponsored research.
Merritt spoke at a forum Friday morning on “Geologic Facts of Life for Flood Protection” at the Orleans Levee District Auditorium. In remarks to about 40 people, the geologist likened the changing course of the Mississippi River to a “Water Wiggle” — a popular, convulsive children’s toy.
“What we have is a river that for 2 million years has watered all over the place and has gone back and forth like a Water Wiggle,” underneath some 360 miles of hurricane protection levees in the New Orleans area, he said, warning: “We have a lot of geological research to do.”
The forum was co-sponsored by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority (East Bank and West Bank), the New Orleans Geological Society and the Louisiana Geological Survey.
Yet, authorities are poised to spend billions of dollars in hurricane-related public works projects in the post-Katrina New Orleans area — without the best “map” on where homeowners, businesses and industry can build to avoid flooding.
Scientists in recent years have conducted studies of the changing course of the Mississippi River and other geological shifts in southeast Louisiana, but researchers need a more comprehensive “geological bulletin” to help officials map out plans for post-Katrina construction.
Merritt says he and other geologists want to provide expert advice to the Flood Protection Authority and other officials, “but we don’t have a “map” because our parishes have never been mapped in detail by the state.”
“We’ve never had a geological bulletin on Orleans Parish (or) Jefferson Parish,” Merritt said. St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes were the subject of a geographical bulletin in 1936, but that report is out of date. He said the cost of a bulletin is a “small investment,” especially considering the billions of dollars in hurricane projects.
Authorities in the hurricane-damaged New Orleans area would do best to follow the example of East Baton Rouge Parish, whose Department of Public Works conducted a joint 1991 study of geological changes in the area — with the Louisiana Geological survey.
“We wish we had that here,” the geologist said. In response to a question, the geologist said 17 years is not that long for Baton Rouge to go without updated information. “The rocks haven’t changed that much,” he chuckled.
Starting in 1869, the state of Louisiana once did a better job than most states at publishing geology reports for developing communities — but the state has slacked off, Merritt said. “Louisiana had a great tradition for geological research,” he said. Geologists enjoyed a “heyday” from the 1930s through about the 1950s, when geological bulletins were issued with regularity.
However, after Acadia and Jefferson Davis parishes were mapped in 1962, “30 years slipped by with no geological bulletins on any of the parishes,” he lamented.
“Our geological survey compared to all other states in the Union is on a starvation funding level,” he said. “We need to get back to what we were doing so well for so long, publishing basic geographical state-sponsored research.
Merritt spoke at a forum Friday morning on “Geologic Facts of Life for Flood Protection” at the Orleans Levee District Auditorium. In remarks to about 40 people, the geologist likened the changing course of the Mississippi River to a “Water Wiggle” — a popular, convulsive children’s toy.
“What we have is a river that for 2 million years has watered all over the place and has gone back and forth like a Water Wiggle,” underneath some 360 miles of hurricane protection levees in the New Orleans area, he said, warning: “We have a lot of geological research to do.”
The forum was co-sponsored by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority (East Bank and West Bank), the New Orleans Geological Society and the Louisiana Geological Survey.
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