Director

To help address the pollutants in New Orleans’ rainwater, LPBF’s Water Quality Department has partnered with the <a href="https://www.swbno.org/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO)</a>, <a href="http://redevelop.nola.gov/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA)</a>, the <a href="http://louisianastormwater.org/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Louisiana Urban Stormwater Coalition (LUSC)</a>, and Dana Brown and Associates (DBA) (Link) to monitor rainwater in the “Pontilly” Neighborhood (composed of the Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods neighborhoods). Through an <a href="http://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/urban-waters-small-grants" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Urban Waters Small Grant (EPA)</a> received by SWBNO, the partners are monitoring rainwater for bacteria, nutrients, metals, and other parameters before and after the installation of <a href="http://danabrownassociates.com/realms/green.php" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Green Infrastructure (GI)</a>  at several sites in the Pontilly neighborhood. The GI installation will consist of vacant lots and other areas where rain gardens, swales, and other natural features will be installed to slow rainwater. This will allow the plants to naturally clean the water and some rainwater to percolate into the ground. Rainwater will then be released into the drainage system and ultimately Lake Pontchartrain cleaner.The partnership will collect and analyze rainwater samples at five sites to determine the effectiveness of GI installations. Research includes on-site determination of flow rates and water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH, and turbidity. Water samples will also be collected for laboratory analysis of several pollutants and parameters (fecal coliform, total suspended solids, total petroleum hydrocarbons, total nitrogen, total phosphorous, total lead, and total zinc).Currently, the partners have begun the project and are monitoring the water quality pre-construction of the GI features to assess baseline conditions. After the GI features are installed and have a chance to grow we will come back and monitor them again to see how efficient they are at cleaning stormwater. The project will also engage community volunteers (Rain Rangers) to monitor important visual characteristics of the stormwater runoff. The expected results are that the quality of rainwater runoff into the drainage system will improve and the quantity of runoff will be reduced as the GI sites are implemented. The ultimate goal of this project is to find effective ways to aid the New Orleans area drainage system and clean water discharging into Lake Pontchartrain!

John O'Donnell, MSPH - Water Quality Specialist

William Pestoff - Water Quality Field Coordinator

The New Orleans area faces a number of water quality challenges typical to urban areas including flooding, non-point source pollution, and pollution of rainwater entering Lake Pontchartrain. As the majority of the New Orleans lies below sea level, the drainage system relies on pumping the stormwater into drainage canals and directly into Lake Pontchartrain. Contaminated rainwater runoff is a major contributor to the lake’s water quality. Harmful pollutants entering the lake through rainwater include bacteria, nutrients, and metals; which can affect flora and fauna species as well as boating, fishing, and swimming in the lake. Although New Orleans operates a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4), sewage, oil/gas, and nutrients from fertilizers are continuing pollution sources entering the lake. Consequently, New Orleans’ canals are on EPA’s Impaired Waterbodies List for dissolved oxygen and fecal coliform bacteria. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) has placed Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) on the New Orleans canals as a method to get them off of the Impaired List.

PONTILLY STORM WATER PROJECT- GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE MONITORING

To help address the pollutants in New Orleans’ rainwater, LPBF’s Water Quality Department has partnered with the <a href="https://www.swbno.org/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO)</a>, <a href="http://redevelop.nola.gov/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA)</a>, the <a href="http://louisianastormwater.org/" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Louisiana Urban Stormwater Coalition (LUSC)</a>, and Dana Brown and Associates (DBA) (Link) to monitor rainwater in the “Pontilly” Neighborhood (composed of the Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods neighborhoods). Through an <a href="http://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/urban-waters-small-grants" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Urban Waters Small Grant (EPA)</a> received by SWBNO, the partners are monitoring rainwater for bacteria, nutrients, metals, and other parameters before and after the installation of <a href="http://danabrownassociates.com/realms/green.php" target="_blank" style="color:rgb(66, 139, 202);background-color:transparent;">Green Infrastructure (GI)</a> (Link) at several sites in the Pontilly neighborhood. The GI installation will consist of vacant lots and other areas where rain gardens, swales, and other natural features will be installed to slow rainwater. This will allow the plants to naturally clean the water and some rainwater to percolate into the ground. Rainwater will then be released into the drainage system and ultimately Lake Pontchartrain cleaner.The partnership will collect and analyze rainwater samples at five sites to determine the effectiveness of GI installations. Research includes on-site determination of flow rates and water temperature, dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, pH, and turbidity. Water samples will also be collected for laboratory analysis of several pollutants and parameters (fecal coliform, total suspended solids, total petroleum hydrocarbons, total nitrogen, total phosphorous, total lead, and total zinc).Currently, the partners have begun the project and are monitoring the water quality pre-construction of the GI features to assess baseline conditions. After the GI features are installed and have a chance to grow we will come back and monitor them again to see how efficient they are at cleaning stormwater. The project will also engage community volunteers (Rain Rangers) to monitor important visual characteristics of the stormwater runoff. The expected results are that the quality of rainwater runoff into the drainage system will improve and the quantity of runoff will be reduced as the GI sites are implemented. The ultimate goal of this project is to find effective ways to aid the New Orleans area drainage system and clean water discharging into Lake Pontchartrain!

LPBF samples ten recreational sites on a weekly basis utilizing EPA-approved methods. The “weekly” sites are each tested for the physiochemical parameters of water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, conductivity, and Secchi Disk clarity. All physiochemical parameters are sampled three times and averaged for a daily value and for quality control purposes. Turbidity is also monitored, where the “average” function on the turbidimeter is employed to average ten readings. To test the safety of the water for recreation, LPBF samples two bacteria that are indicators of contamination with waste, fecal coliform and Enterococcus. Fecal coliform and Enterococcus “grab” samples of 100 ml volume are collected at each site in sterile containers and taken to local EPA-approved laboratory for analysis within six hours of collection. The results can be seen on the LPBF’s <a href="https://saveourlake.org/lpbf-programs/water-quality/weekly-data-report/" target="_blank" style="color:Black;">weekly-data-report</a> webpage (linked to below) and in local media.To document the Lake’s water quality and encourage people to return to the lake, LPBF started the “Basin-wide Water Quality Monitoring Program” in 2001. In this program we perform weekly water quality monitoring at ten recreational sites around Lake Pontchartrain. The program has three goals: 1.     Disseminate water quality information to the public on a weekly basis;2.     Identify sources that contribute to the pollution of the lake;3.     Share data with researchers, citizen, students, and local, state, and federal agencies To date, the LPBF has collected over 8000 water quality samples at the ten weekly sites. These data have shown that Lake Pontchartrain is suitable for primary contact recreation (with high fecal coliform and Enterococcus levels observed only following rain events). With public access to the data, there has been a significant increase in utilization of the Lake for boating, fishing, swimming, and other water activities. In contrast to the health of Lake Pontchartrain, data has shown that waterways on the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain (including St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parishes) are being degraded due to rapid development and the inconsistent sewage treatment associated with it. Go to the <a href="https://saveourlake.org/projects/6130/" target="_blank" style="color:Black;">Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program</a>, as well as our other water quality programs listed below to learn more.

With the mantra “Save Our Lake” marking the birth of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) in 1989, it was clear that Lake Pontchartrain’s water quality was issue #1. At that time, the lake and many north shore rivers were closed to swimming due to contamination with fecal coliform bacteria.  LPBF started tackling this issue immediately with water quality monitoring in Lake Pontchartrain and investigations into pollution sources.

On the south shore, it soon became apparent that much of the bacteria entering the lake came from broken pipes in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes sewer systems.  LPBF began to work with the parishes to clean up these sources.  By 2000, water quality monitoring indicated that we were having success and the Lake’s bacteria level was dropping, particularly on the south shore.