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McBride
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 116
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 Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 7:19 am Post subject: Corps to drop Safe Water Levels in outfall canals? Yikes! |
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Broadmoorians,
Col. Wagenaar said on WLAE's "Road to Recovery" last evening that the Corps may soon be dropping the Safe Water Levels on the outfall canals (currently five feet on London Ave and 17th Street and 8 feet on Orleans Ave). Specifically, he was speaking about London Ave, saying there would be an announcement early next week, strongly implying the level in that canal would drop another foot, to four feet. But he also said they were looking at the levels in all three canals.
As a reminder, the Safe Water Levels are the maximum depths above which the water in the three outfall canals (into which all the rainwater that falls in New Orleans west of the industrial canal must eventually flow) cannot rise due to Katrina damage. It is measured in feet above sea level. It is far below the original design heights of water in the canals, which is plain evidence of how underdesigned those canal walls and levees were. Broadmoor's water goes out to the lake along the 17th Street canal.
Col. Wagenaar talked about a bunch of "remediation" measures that could be taken on the canals, including totally coating the interiors with concrete or reinforcing the walls. Those would be long term solutions, despite his saying they would be short term measures. It brings up the question, once again, of what happened to the $29 million the Corps wanted to spend reinforcing the canal walls back in January, and why they didn't bother doing so?
He also finally admitted publicly that the Safe Water Levels are based on any water flow, whether its storm surge coming in from the lake or pumping rainwater out.
If the SWL's drop any further, I believe we'll be looking at definite permanent pumping capacity reductions, whether the gates are open are not (if we're not already looking at them now). That is because the S&WB will not be able to pump enough rainwater down the canals without approaching the SWL's and threatening a breach.
This also brings up all kinds of other questions:
1) If the SWL is dropped to four feet, and the temporary pumps at the gates operate best between 2 and 4 feet, what do you do with those pumps? Drop all of them a foot (the gates manual specifically says to keep the canal water level one foot below the safe water level)?
2) How does this impact S&WB pumping during major rainstorms when the gates are open?
3) Why is this coming about now? Is it the result of a study, or simple tardiness?
Matt |
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startrekchess
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:57 am Post subject: Crikey! |
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Can't answer the rest, but as for this:
| Quote: | | Why is this coming about now? Is it the result of a study, or simple tardiness? |
Politically speaking, it sounds like retaliation [='warning']. I seriously doubt the SWLs need to be lowered, but the announcement can stall investment, and thus further slow recovery.
I'll get to work, pronto. |
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startrekchess
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 9:30 am Post subject: They're using Ernesto as an excuse |
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Matt, this may be a stupid question, but at this point, why doesn't the Corps just plan for enclosed canals, necessitating mainly pipe building and a few connective tweaks, and providing greater 'security' since that seems to be the government's main issue?
Do you know how fast they build pipes for oil? |
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prwalter
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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Basically I think what we are seeing is that the Corps cannot endure ANY risk of canal levee breaches -- levees that were junk to begin with, and are still mostly junk. I suspect that if there is rainwater flooding the Corps can try to push the blame to the S&WB, and vice-versa. And the Corps can say, "hey at least there was no levee break and no 'catastrophic flooding', except of course in areas like Broadmoor, that are well below sea level anyway".
I suspect THE long term solution is to have large well-made underground culverts, a-la Napoleon avenue, plus the permanent pumping stations at the lake. I would think they could build it much faster than they did on Napoleon, since they don't have to excavate a neutral ground of a busy thoroughfare to do it. I am sure it is all about MONEY -- who would pay for the huge box-culverts-on-pilings? Let's hope it does not come down to the Corps doing another one of its famous Cost-Benefit Analyses !!
If I were open to conspiracy theories, I would say that since C. Ray has not had led, there are "powers that be" who are working behind the scenes to try slow recovery by INDIVIDUAL land owners in low-lying areas, so that the "highlands" remain more valuable, and so that people in the "lowlands" will throw in the towel, and sell to the state, which will open up big redevelpment projects in a few years -- after which, low and behold the SWL's will be higher. Good thing I am not influenced by conspiracy theories 
Go Matt -- keep up the good work! AND, nobody throw in the towel !! Meanwhile, don't buy a slab house to renovate, and if your house happens to need shoring anyway, see if you can get the contractor to raise it a foot or two (or more) without ruining your architectural intergrity. (Might not want to run out and finish that basement just yet, either )
Rodney |
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prwalter
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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| The other thing that totally jumps out of the Safe Water Level proposed for the 17th Street Canal is that it will protect (non-Historic and lethargic) LAKEVIEW to the detriment of Broadmoor and Old Metairie. Lakeview drains mostly to the Orleans Canal, which has pretty undiminished capacity. I think another BIG factor here is that proposed 17th Street SWL protects (RED) Northeast "New" Metairie. I don't think we should underestimate or forget the power of New Metairie in this whole deal. If push comes to shove, it is hard for me to believe that we can prevail over the Lakeview and New Metairie interest in keeping the canal water shallow, until such time that they will be built into big culverts (if they ever are). Not to say that we should not fight the fight, (WE SHOULD), but we had BETTER also do some contingency planning -- specifically I would ask the question again -- what are going to do to prepare for the possibility that some time in the next 5-10 years, Broadmoor will end up with 2 - 3 feet of water in it? I think part of the answer is to return to our roots of raised houses that are floodproofed (storage) underneath. Either that or we need to find a way to team up with Old Metairie more effectively than we have. Or maybe we need to do both... |
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startrekchess
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 4:25 pm Post subject: New Metairie is scared, by reports |
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| prwalter wrote: | | And the Corps can say, "hey at least there was no levee break and no 'catastrophic flooding', except of course in areas like Broadmoor, that are well below sea level anyway". |
Mmph. Check out this pdf, a media roundtable from 9/19/05, in which Col. Duane Gapinski, on pages 2, 6 and 7 discusses City Park:
Currently we estimate about 85 percent of the flood waters have been pumped out or drained out of the city and the surrounding parishes affected by the hurricane. In the city proper, we are extremely close to being completely unwatered. There's a park in the northern central part of the city that has some water and doesn't drain very well, and it's just a park, so we're probably going to leave that, but making great strides.
<snip>
And our first question comes from Nell Boyce of the National Public Radio.
MS. BOYCE: HI. Thanks for taking my question. You mentioned that about 85 percent of the flood waters had been pumped out and you said that in the city proper, that you are very close, but the park wasn't draining very well.
Could you talk a little bit about that cause it's quite a large well-known park and I wondered exactly what the situation was with the water there and when that's likely to be dried out?
COLONEL GAPINSKI: Well, we're not really sure. You know, obviously we're focusing on areas where there's houses and businesses. You know, the park just doesn't drain very well, so it'll, you know, evaporate over time. But we're focusing on, you know, property, neighborhoods and businesses.
MS. BOYCE: Do you know about how much water remains in the park?
COLONEL GAPINSKI: I do not, off the top of my head. It's not a lot. I mean, it's basically there's some puddling and ponding.
MS. BOYCE: Okay. Thank you very much.
Broadmoor, as many of us know, was already "unwatered" by Sept. 19th. So, since the Corps likes to promote itself as "focusing on areas where there's houses and businesses", seems to me flooding the already being-revitalized Broadmoor in the New New Orleans would be a very, very bad sell. Even as a rainwater byproduct, when that northern part of the city seems to be the last to drain.
I think we can team up with virtually anyone at this point. Old Metairie, to be sure. But even City Park activists don't really want their restored greenspace dumped on unnecessarily. And it is unnecessarily.
It's hard to talk about contingency plans for the next 5+ years when we haven't been told what the Army Corps' designs are on the new, permanent pumping stations at the lake. I suspect those plans won't truly emerge until enough tarps have turned into towels, to use your previous analogy.
But I will tell you this, the time to push hard is these next few months, right up to the November elections. Timing is the best leverage we have... |
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McBride
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 116
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| Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 9:13 am Post subject: More about Safe Water Levels |
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Broadmoorians,
I have independently confirmed from two sources some information about the Safe Water Levels in the 17th Street canal, and it's actually (mostly) good news!
According to the Corps, they will be raising the Safe Water Level one foot, to six feet, on the 17th Street Canal. How or why this is being done is unknown, but it is being done. This is good news because it means the likelihood of pumping restrictions on the canal during normal storms with the gates open is much less now.
However, it is not all good news. The SWL on London Avenue is still in flux, with the possibility of lowering still very much out there. A decision is expected early next week. The London Avenue canal drains areas all the way from UNO and Gentilly to the French Quarter, and everything in between. When one considers that even the final June, 2007 pumping configuration on that canal still leaves just half of the pre-Katrina pumping capacity, people whose rainwater goes in there are getting screwed royally by the Corps.
Matt |
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startrekchess
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 7:58 pm Post subject: Ooh, we got 'lucky' again. |
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| McBride wrote: | | The London Avenue canal drains areas all the way from UNO and Gentilly to the French Quarter, and everything in between. When one considers that even the final June, 2007 pumping configuration on that canal still leaves just half of the pre-Katrina pumping capacity, people whose rainwater goes in there are getting screwed royally by the Corps. |
Weeeelllll, I dunno if I'd worry too much about Gentilly. Isn't the LRA's favorite millionaire urban planner Andres Duany investing his name in that area? I can't recall, though: was that the canal where you mentioned (in your FABULOUS presentation) one of the two pumping stations had to be shut down entirely during rainstorms for lack of capacity?
And which canal drains this area (because I think that will be pretty well protected):
Dominion Tower dropped from downtown project
A unique part of Mayne's plan is for Poydras Street to become a tunnel under the park. A two-story underground garage would be built, as would an underground 280,000-square-foot retail center. |
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McBride
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 116
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| Posted: Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:35 pm Post subject: Orleans pump repair presentation now available online |
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Dear Broadmoorians,
First off, I'd like to apologize to those of you who tried to make my presentation last Wednesday, but arrived at the church and found the presentation had been moved. Roofing contractors had showed up unexpectedly and the inside of the building was quite loud, so we had to change the location. And to those of you who came despite the annoyances, it was very much appreciated.
Many people have asked for a printed copy of the presentation. Unfortunately, that is impossible due to the great amount of animation and multiple images on each slide. Printed versions would just look like gibberish. So I have done something better.
I have decided to distribute the presentation electronically. I have modified it to make it understandable without my narration. I've added a number of explanatory text boxes and a few slides with words on them to make clear the points I wanted to emphasize.
The entire presentation is available online. You can find it here:
http://www.box.net/public/mpg4t84ynk
It is huge - over 51 megs. It should download quickly on a cable modem or through DSL, but dial-up may take a while.
Just in case the above weblink doesn't work or you're asked to register, go to:
http://www.box.net
Click "Login."
Username: pumps
Password: password
The presentation will be right there, available for downloading.
To see it, you will need Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer. The Viewer is a free download available at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=428d5727-43ab-4f24-90b7-a94784af71a4&DisplayLang=en
I think it's about 2 megs.
To advance through the presentation in PowerPoint Viewer, all you have to do is left click your mouse, or tap the return, right arrow, or down arrow keys on your keyboard. To go back, just hit the up arrow or left arrow keys. You may want to wait a few seconds before you advance, to allow all the animation and text to show up on any given slide.
Feel free to forward this far and wide. And also feel free to give me feedback.
Thanks for all your support,
Matt McBride
Drainage Advocate
Last edited by McBride on Mon Sep 11, 2006 7:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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startrekchess
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:42 pm Post subject: Feedback? You wanted feedback? |
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McBride
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 116
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 11:00 am Post subject: |
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Dear Broadmoorians,
Lately, I've been working on what's known in the news business as "enterprise reporting." That's jargon for original reporting that hasn't been seen anywhere else in the media. In this case, that would include stories that the Corps has not announced either.
As with many big stories, I've broken it up into bite-size chunks that will appear on my blog in coming days. The reporting covers problems at the floodgates. I am not talking about pump vibrations, or grout, or schedule delays. All of those have already been covered elsewhere. I am talking about more prosaic things such as security and worker safety that indicate poor project management, and bring into question the Corps' true commitment to doing things right. Because if they can't even get the basics right, what does that say about the big stuff, like whether the gates will work at all?
You will see the first installment go up after lunch today, with further installments to follow. Check out http://fixthepumps.blogspot.com. Feel free to leave comments on the blog as well.
Thanks for your support,
Matt |
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startrekchess
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:29 pm Post subject: Enterprise? Did someone call? |
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| McBride wrote: | | I am talking about more prosaic things such as security and worker safety that indicate poor project management, and bring into question the Corps' true commitment to doing things right. Because if they can't even get the basics right, what does that say about the big stuff, like whether the gates will work at all? |
I'm loving the soap. Potemkin security cuts both ways, especially in an election year.  So, like, do the poor blokes even have workmen's comp? Thought of that earlier when I heard a scream from a nearby house as some construction fellow dropped something nasty. Right when I was reading your blog. Huh. |
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McBride
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 116
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| Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2006 8:38 am Post subject: Entire special report now online |
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Dear Broadmoorians,
I have now posted all six of the five parts (yes, there turned out to be a bonus part) of my special report, Problems at the Floodgates. I report on problems with workplace safety, security, treatment of the environment, lack of urgency, and - finally - what you can do about it. You can find the whole thing at http://fixthepumps.blogspot.com.
Thanks for all your support!
Matt |
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McBride
Joined: 17 Feb 2006
Posts: 116
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| Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 6:55 pm Post subject: Lots of breaking news at Fix The Pumps |
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Dear Broadmoorians,
In case you haven't done so lately, please check out my blog, Fix the Pumps for a slew of breaking news on what has been happening at the pump stations and floodgates in the last couple of weeks. Among the headlines are:
- Numerous violations of Federal safety regulations (this prompted a hastily called meeting between the Corps and its contractors today)
- Oil spills at the floodgates, including spills that the Corps did not report to the Federal authorities
- The waste of over $300,000 for rental of a generator that has never been used, but could have supplied backup power to numerous pump stations in the city
Thanks for all your support!
Matt |
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Abby
Joined: 06 Feb 2006
Posts: 86
Location: Upperline St.
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| Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2006 10:24 pm Post subject: thanks Matt |
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| For your diligence. Also .... Yay Cardinals!!! |
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