Silver Jackets: Many Partners, One team

SILVER JACKETS

Many Partners, One Team

 

For More Information Contact

State of Louisiana Silver Jackets Coordinator, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New Orleans District, Email, 504-862-2411

Louisiana Silver Jackets

The Louisiana Silver Jackets State team was established in April of 2015 with the main goal of increasing efficiency and coordination between the State and Federal governments in developing comprehensive and sustainable solutions to flood risk management in the State of Louisiana.

VISION STATEMENT

To increase efficiency and coordination between the state and federal governments in developing comprehensive and sustainable solutions to flood risk management in the State of Louisiana.

MISSION STATEMENT

The core agencies of the Louisiana Silver Jackets state team have established an inter-agency communications team working with other State and Federal Agencies to:

  • Enable the effective and efficient sharing of information,
  • Foster the leveraging of available agency resources,
  • Reinforce risk communication to all residents and stakeholders, and
  • Focus outreach efforts on the state and federal level to ensure the message of flood risk management reaches the entire state.

Team Activities

Tangipahoa Watershed Analysis

In 2020, the Louisiana Silver Jackets Teams completed a project in which they provided, evaluated, and recommended alternative solutions to aid in flood prevention, specifically along the Tangipahoa River. The Tangipahoa River is approximately 244 miles long with 158 miles being in Louisiana. In 2016, Tangipahoa parish experienced devastating flooding along the Tangipahoa River. This project successfully recommended alternative methods to prevent hazardous flooding from happening again.

Supporting Flood Resiliency in Lake Arthur, Louisiana

The Town of Lake Arthur is a small rural community known as a sportsman’s paradise. The lake connects to the Mermentau River as well as coastal waterways and is an important economic driver of the town. The preservation and protection of the lake, as well as protection of local buildings and property from floods and high waters remains the town’s most important priorities. The Louisiana Silver Jackets team created a plan in which they suggested an operational change in the threshold for opening and closing the structures in the Mermentau Basin. This could increase the naturally occurring flow of water from north to south, reducing the water levels from the basin to accommodate future high-water events.

Louisiana Flood Resilience Outreach

The Louisiana Silver Jackets provided community leaders with an outreach tool they could use through various platforms to increase flood risk awareness in the communities impacted by the state’s historic 2016 flood event. This historic flood event caught many citizens by surprise, as flooding occurred in areas not known for extensive flooding and partially outside FEMA-defined flood zones in which homeowners are required to carry flood insurance. This flood event highlighted the need for public outreach. The Louisiana Silver Jackets created a plan to educate citizens on flood risk in these communities to increase awareness, preparation, mitigation and resilience, and to provide clear and consistent messaging to maximize the effectiveness of such efforts.

Statewide Watershed Modeling

This project assists the Louisiana Watershed Initiative in conducing state-wide watershed monitoring, mapping, and modeling in Louisiana, thereby enabling the coordination of floodplain management responsibilities across federal, state, and local agencies to reduce property damage. Because of its complex flood risk profile, the state of Louisiana needs high quality watershed data, mapping, and modeling. A key to the success of the LWI  is the coordination of multiple agencies, including USACE, CPRA, GOHSEP, OCD, DOTD, LDWF, DEQ, USGS and FEMA as well as partners in the academic and non-profit sectors to inform data collection, H&H, and consequence modeling and flood mapping efforts undertaken by the state

Sankofa Wetland Park

This project is currently developing plans for hydraulic load measurements to ensure stormwater retention capacity of a 40-acre wetland park with drainage infrastructure systems in the Lower Ninth Ward area of New Orleans to provide hurricane protection for a flood prone area. The Sankofa Wetland Park results in direct flood risk reduction and resilience for the approximately 4,000 residents of the Lower Ninth Ward. With the collaboration of team members working with cty agency partners, the city municipality including Departments of Public Works/Infrastructure, and Sewerage and Water Board will have the information to implement improved stormwater management systems and reduce overflow in the Lower Ninth Ward.

Louisiana Silver Jackets logo

Participating Agencies

Federal

State:

  • Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA)
  • Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD)

Other


U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supports state-led Silver Jackets Teams through its Flood Risk Management Program.