Group Backs Plan In Louisiana
Supports Call For Ecological Repairs
December 9, 2005
By DANIEL P. JONES, Hartford Courant Staff Writer
A Farmington Valley conservation group is raising money for two Louisiana environmental organizations so the groups can have a say in the ecological restoration of New Orleans, which was wrecked by Hurricane Katrina this year.
The Simsbury-based Farmington River Watershed Association, which has raised about $2,500 from its 1,000 members, is now asking the public and other civic and environmental groups to help the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.
The two Louisiana groups are urging that natural coastal buffers be restored as part of the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and areas nearby.
"No one will disagree that the social services need every penny right now," said Allan Williams, development director at the Farmington River Watershed Association. "But if they rebuild their systems exactly as they were before, they'll basically set up another disaster."
The Mississippi River delta - and its barrier islands and coastal wetlands - once helped shelter the New Orleans area from storms coming from the Gulf of Mexico. But that natural buffer has shrunk dramatically since 1930 because of projects that diverted the river and carved out channels for shipping and commerce.
On Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed a patchwork shipping-channel and flood-control levee system that was built over generations. Before the storm struck, experts had warned repeatedly that the levee system probably would fail if a Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane like Katrina hit New Orleans.
Now the scientists say the New Orleans area cannot have a chance of being truly safe from severe storm surges - even if the levees are repaired - unless a significant portion of the natural buffer is restored.
Williams, who worked on flood-management and wetlands issues during a long career at the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, said local people can help the two Louisiana conservation groups have a voice in the rebuilding efforts.
"For a few weeks after the disaster, people saw a lot of photos of the devastation in Louisiana, but what most of us in the Northeast do not know is that nearly 500,000 people are still displaced," he said. "But it does not have to be this way, and we as citizens of Connecticut can influence the environmental impact of the rebuilding process by supporting the not-for-profit groups that know what needs to be done and can fight to make it happen."
Those who want more information or want to make a donation can contact the Farmington River group at 860-658-4442 or at www.frwa.org.