Herron, A. H.

Hockings, M. T.

Neil, D. T.

University of Queensland eSpace

On-Line Development 2008 ‘Water and Development’   www.sidint.org/development 
 
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On-Line Dialogue 
 
Post- Hurricane Katrina: Building frameworks for incorporating 
social-ecological resilience 
 
 
ALICIA HOPE HERRON, DAVID NEIL AND MARC HOCKINGS 
E-mail: Hope.herron@tetratech.com; d.neil@uq.edu.au; m.hockings@uq.edu.au 
Words: 2.103 
 
ABSTRACT  Vulnerability of coastal areas is not just defined by 
natural perturbations but includes the degree of ecosystem 
degradation, community design and the socio-economic composition 
of the community. Increased degradation of coastal ecosystems and 
population growth has meant that hurricanes, tsunamis and other 
natural disasters have taken an increasing human and environmental 
toll worldwide. Hurricane Katrina dramatically exposed the lack of 
overall system resilience in Louisiana. Increasing resilience of the 
system necessitates an inclusive view of both socioeconomic and 
ecological factors. Alicia Hope Herron, David Neil and Marc 
Hockings highlight the importance of considering coastal management 
as a social-ecological system, using the situational analysis of 
Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina to show that resilience is inextricably 
tied to these linkages. 
 
 
Introduction 
Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans on August 29, 2005 as a Category 3 hurricane. 
It followed a path modeled 20 years earlier by the United States Army Corps of Engineers 
(USACE) as that most critical to the city (Van Heerden, 2006). Despite this prediction, which 
had been widely disseminated through scientific journals and the popular media (Bourne, 2004; 
Fischetti, 2001; McQuaid and Schleifstein, 2002), Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans 
and much of the Gulf Coast – killing approximately 1300 people and causing US$ 200 billion in 
damages (NRC, 2006). 
The majority of the damage in New Orleans resulted from the flooding of approximately 80 
percent of the city. While there are many historical factors that contributed to the flooding, there 
are two that are particularly significant: the failure of the levees and a loss of the wetlands that 
had previously mitigated storm surge effects. The flooding exposed serious socioeconomic 
vulnerabilities, as much of the population unable to evacuate and impacted by the flood waters 
was low-income, minority citizens.  
 
Vulnerability and adaptation 
Approximately 50 percent of the world population lives within 200 km of the coast and the total 
number of people living in coastal areas is expected to double by 2025 (PRB, 2003). 
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Vulnerability of coastal areas is not only defined by natural perturbations such as tsunamis, 
hurricanes and coastal flooding, but also includes ecosystem degradation, community design, and 
the socioeconomic composition of the community. Population growth, economic development, 
rising sea levels and uncertain weather patterns exacerbate vulnerability.  
The United States federal government has committed US$ 114 billion to rebuilding the Gulf 
Coast, with a large share directed to New Orleans (DHS, 2007). The discussion is not whether 
New Orleans will be rebuilt, but how. The effort represents the largest reconstruction effort ever 
undertaken by the United States federal government and an opportunity to incorporate lessons 
learned from coastal zone management to build a more resilient city. Increasing the resilience of 
New Orleans will require a paradigm shift: away from the strict focus on flood control and 
towards a holistic water management framework. It will mean rethinking the relationship 
between people and water at many levels of interaction.  
 
Flood control 
The city of New Orleans was founded in 1718, on a strategic point along the natural levee of the 
Mississippi River. Population growth continued throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth 
centuries but remained largely concentrated above sea level. The construction, in the late 1800’s, 
of pump stations capable of dewatering wetlands allowed the population to expand into low-
lying areas. 
The USACE assumed levee building responsibilities in 1879 (Colten, 2006) and the United 
States government became involved in disaster response and legislated for structural flood 
control following the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 (Mason, 2006; Galloway, 2006). 
The levees along the Mississippi River were subsequently strengthened and extended to protect 
against flooding. In 1962, the USACE outlined a comprehensive plan for flood prevention in the 
greater New Orleans area resulting from the ‘Standard Project Hurricane’ (SPH).1 Congressional 
authorization followed in 1965; however the project became mired in financial and political 
obstacles. 
The New Orleans Corps reported progress with the project in August 2005, immediately 
before Katrina, as ranging from 65 percent complete in the New Orleans West Unit to 98 percent 
complete in St. Bernard Parish (Woolly and Shabman, 2007). 
Further review of the failures of the flood control system during Hurricane Katrina begs 
questions of the management frameworks which assessed the risk acceptance, cost, and benefits 
of the protection system. Moving forward, value judgments must be made as to what to protect 
and at what cost. 
 
Coastal development 
Public access to the coast is recognized by the Coastal Management Act as an important goal. 
Some 40 federal programmes fund beachfront development, which includes federal monies for 
highway infrastructure (Heinz Center, 2002). Highways and roads allow for development in 
areas that would otherwise be unsuitable and impractical. Once development occurs, the federal 
government then subsidizes the building of water and sewerage works, which spurs more 
development. States and local governments often prioritize growth, which can lead to community 
design that does not adequately address the risks of coastal areas. The building of Interstate10 in 
Louisiana provides one such example. Intensive urban development in previously unsettled 
wetlands in and around the New Orleans area followed its construction in the 1970s (Brookings 
Institution, 2005) and expenditures in sewerage and streets allowed these centers to prosper (City 
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Planning Commission, 1999). Most of these low lying areas were flooded during Hurricane 
Katrina. Federally protecting areas against flooding has had the unintended consequence of 
fueling development in disaster prone areas. A lack of state and local cooperation and guidance, 
which allow individual flood control projects without a comprehensive management framework, 
further increases vulnerability.  
 
Natural systems 
The ecosystem functions provided by Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are of national economic 
significance. Louisiana’s wetlands mitigate the effects of storm surges, serve as sources of 
biodiversity, provide inland navigable waterways and are underlain by sources of oil and natural 
gas. The ecosystem functions of the wetlands have not historically been quantified in cost benefit 
analysis of flood control or prioritized in land use planning. 
Human intervention has reversed the long-term trend of delta building that had been occurring 
for some 10,000 years (NRC, 2006). Modifications include levees, channelization, canals, and 
draining and filling of land which have disrupted the hydrology and spatial distribution of the 
wetlands. The land loss rates for Louisiana’s coastal wetlands in the last 50 years have exceeded 
104 km2 / year (LCWCR, 1998) and they are projected to lose an additional 2,550 km2 by 2050 
(USACE, 2004).  
 
Socio-economic vulnerability 
Hurricane Katrina was a natural disaster, exacerbated by human influence. The flood protection 
system designed for New Orleans over 40 years ago is incomplete and inadequate. The wetland 
ecosystem, the first line of defense against storms, continues to diminish due to human 
influences. Further, natural disaster planning failed to provide adequate evacuation of mostly low 
income, minority citizens.  
 
Paradigm shift 
Hurricane Katrina has raised the profile of coastal management to unprecedented levels in the 
US. How to effectively balance development with natural systems and processes is a crucial 
question that Louisiana, and the country, must address in order to build resilient cities. Agencies 
involved in coastal affairs often impact each other in negative ways due to differing missions and 
structures and poor communication channels. There is a lack of comprehensive planning and 
coordination channels, and the interconnectedness of natural systems is not reflected in the 
development of management approaches that are similarly holistic.  
Management frameworks that integrate social and ecological indicators are necessary at all 
levels of government, as are tools that effectively quantify development risk and ecosystem 
services. The US does not have a national water policy or oceans policy and the ineffectiveness 
of federal natural disaster planning was made clear during Katrina. Neither local comprehensive 
plans nor local code enforcement was required by any of the Gulf States impacted by Katrina 
(Burby, 2006). Figure 1 illustrates aspects of socio-economic and wetland ecosystem health that 
could be used to integrate management frameworks. The figure highlights aspects of the 
diversity of planning and management frameworks needed to develop social-ecological 
resilience and the characteristics of socio-economic and wetland ecosystem health needed to 
inform those frameworks.  
 
 
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Figure 1: Aspects of Socio-Economic and Wetland Ecosystem Health to Inform Broader Frameworks.  
 
The post-Katrina context has seen much activity to incorporate lessons learned. Some of the 
tools that are being used include: 
 
• The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA requires that environmental impact 
statements be prepared for major federal actions having a significant effect on the natural 
and human environment. The USACE must consider elements of ecosystem health and 
social justice, and incorporate public comments, when deciding which flood control 
alternative to implement.  
• Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study (LCA). A USACE project, the LCA 
considers hurricane protection and ecosystem restoration projects. Not yet completed.  
• Louisiana Comprehensive Master Plan. Written by the Coastal Protection and Restoration 
Authority of Louisiana, an integrated restoration and protection plan that helps to prioritize 
coastal management projects. Will be incorporated into the LCA.  
• Louisiana Regional Plan. Represents the first long-term community planning initiative ever 
undertaken by the state. 
• Strategic Recovery and Redevelopment Plan. Authorized by the city of New Orleans, the 
first comprehensive land use plan developed for a Louisiana city. Outlines 17 recovery areas 
to target resources and utilize smart growth principles.  
 
Increasing resilience of the coastal zone necessitates an inclusive view of the human linkages in 
social-ecological resilience, as well as a holistic view of ecological systems. The current levels of 
planning are unmatched for Louisiana and present an opportunity to correct the vulnerability that 
Katrina exposed. New Orleans serves as a stark reminder that coastal development must be 
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integrated into broader frameworks in order that indicators of both social and economic health 
can further inform cost benefit analysis and strategic planning.  
 
Note 
1 According to the National Academy of Engineering/National Research Council Committee (2006), the 
authorized level of protection denoted by the term ‘Standard Project Hurricane’ for the New Orleans 
Hurricane Protection System refers to a 1959 definition; ‘the most severe storm that is considered 
reasonably characteristic of a region’ and authorized in US Public Law 89-298, passed on October 27, 
1965. 
 
References 
Bourne, Joel K., Jr. (2004) ‘Gone with the water’, National Geographic October. 
Brookings Institution (2005) New Orleans After the Storm, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. 
Burby, Raymond J. (2006) ‘Hurricane Katrina and the Paradoxes of Government Disaster Policy Bringing 
about Wise Governmental Decisions for Hazardous Areas’, Annals of the American Academy of 
Political and Social Science, March. 
City Planning Commission, City of New Orleans (1999) New Century New Orleans, 1999 Land Use 
Plan, City of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA: City Planning Commission, City of New Orleans. 
Colten, Craig E. (2006) ‘Conspiracy of the Levees: The Latest Battle of New Orleans’, World Watch, 
Special Edition: Katrina The Failures of Success, 19(5): 8-12. 
De Souza, Roger-Mark, John S. Williams and Frederick Meyerson (2003) ‘Critical Links: Population, 
Health, and the Environment’, Population Bulletin 58 (3).  
Fischetti, Mark (2001) ‘Drowning New Orleans’ Scientific American October: 76-86. 
Galloway, Gerald E. (2006) Restoring Coastal Louisiana: Planning without a National Water Policy, 
Washington, DC: National Academies of Engineering. 
Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Task Force and the Wetlands Conservation and 
Restoration Authority (LCWCR) (1998) Coast 2050: Toward a Sustainable Coastal Louisiana, Baton 
Rouge: Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.  
Mason, Byron (2006) Law, Science, and Disaster: Summary of the October 18, 2005 Workshop of the 
Disasters Roundtable, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.  
McQuaid, John and Mark Schleifstein (2002) ‘Washing away’, Times Picayune June 23-27. 
National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies (2006) ‘Drawing Louisiana’s New Map: 
Addressing Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana’. Committee on the Restoration and Protection of Coastal 
Louisiana. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) (2004) Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study, 
Final, Baton Rouge, Louisiana: USACE, New Orleans District. 
Woolley, Douglas and Leonard Shabman (2007) ‘Decision-Making Chronology for the Lake 
Pontchartrain & Vicinity Hurricane Protection Project’, unpublished report, Alexandria, VA: Institute 
for Water Resources (IWR).  
Van Heerden, Ivor (2006) The Storm. New York: Penguin Press.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Alicia Hope Herron is an Environmental Scientist for Tetra Tech, Inc. She has previously worked for the 
Environmental Change and Security Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; 
as an Environmental Educator; and a Research Assistant for the Mississippi Minerals Resource Institute. 
Herron received a Masters in Natural Resource Management from the University of Queensland, 
Australia in 2006 and a Masters in International Communication from the American University, 
Washington D.C. in 2007. 
Contact details: 
Environmental Scientist, Tetra Tech, Inc. 
748 Main St. 
Baton Rouge, LA 70806, USA 
Tel: +1 225.383.1780 
Fax: +1 225.387.0203 
Website: www.ttwater.com 
 
Dr. David Neil is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Geography and Environmental 
Management Department at the University of Queensland, Australia. He received his PhD from the 
Australia National University in 1994. His current research interests include:  Applied geomorphology, 
land degradation, biogeography, environmental studies, coastal processes and management. 
Contact details: 
Director, Geography and Environmental Management Department 
University of Queensland 
Brisbane Qld 4072, AUSTRALIA 
Tel: +61 7 336 56717 
Fax: +61 7 336 56899 
 
Marc Hockings, PhD is Senior Lecturer and coordinator of natural systems management in the School of 
Natural and Rural Systems Management at the University of Queensland. He is Vice-Chair (Science, 
Knowledge and Management) for the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas. His current research 
interests are in monitoring and evaluation of conservation  management. 
Senior Lecturer, School of Natural and Rural Systems Management. 
Contact details: 
University of Queensland, Gatton Campus 
Brisbane Qld 4072, AUSTRALIA 
Tel: +61 7 5460 1140  
Fax: +61 7 5460 1324 
 


Post-hurricane Katrina: building frameworks for incorporating social-ecological resilience

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Post-hurricane Katrina: building frameworks for incorporating social-ecological resilience

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