Narrative & Approach

Living With Water

Nature inspires character. Opportunities for “living with water” are an essential advantage of the site as a representation of our region’s most fundamental natural asset. The site is located at a critical junction between existing urban development and one of the region’s greatest ecological resources, the Bayou Sauvage
National Wildlife Refuge. The site is part of the New Orleans East drainage system but sits one pump station removed from its urban canal network. This position allows for design innovation around water-centric real estate, but also requires a deep understanding of ecological and water management requirements in this
prominent in-between zone. Development here also has the potential to exemplify all three primary goals of the Resilient New Orleans strategy and advance the implementation goals of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, both recipients of National Excellence Awards from the American Planning Association.
Water design strategies will address the following themes:

Recreation & Waterfront Development Value

•  Water is an undervalued asset in New Orleans, and much of the 20th century drainage infrastructure was built to hide and remove water as fast as possible. As the city rediscovers its waterways, showcase examples are needed to demonstrate firsthand the value of living and working alongside them. Unique in the region, the large open water bodies on the Six Flags/Jazzland site are within the hurricane protection system— not affected by storm surge—and offer an opportunity to re-imagine the relationship between buildings, public space, and the water’s edge. Iconic new building types and forms closely integrated with water and the environment can be explored here and can become a model for new practices elsewhere in the city.
• This is not a typical site in a typical city: development must occur in tandem
  with the restoration and preservation of nature. The site is inherently a link
  and a filter between the city and the urban wetland.

Water Quality

• Best management practices for pollutant load reduction are especially important on this site given its proximity and interconnection to Bayou Sauvage. Landscape strategies at the site and building scale will take advantage of ecosystem services to protect habitat and native species.

Stormwater Storage

• The Six Flags/Jazzland site lies at the top of its watershed: that is, water from elsewhere does not flow through it. Living with water development on this site is therefore imperative to relieve drainage pressure on downstream canals, including the outfall of the Village de L’Est community. Existing
  high rates of runoff from paving on the site must be mitigated, possibly through an extension and reinterpretation of New Orleans East’s familiar pattern of lakes and canals. The water assignment for the Six Flags/Jazzland site for a 25-year storm event is approximately 131 acre feet, a significant volume that will drive site planning decisions. Beginning at the pre-schematic stage, planning for appropriate water volumes and flows can reduce the extreme water level fluctuations that burden the drainage
  system in other parts of the city. The Six Flags/Jazzland development can show the way forward and validate the storage-based drainage model proposed in the Urban Water Plan.

Groundwater Management

• The site is slightly higher in ground elevation than its developed surroundings. It has not subsided at the same rate, likely due to the presence of significant open water in and around the site and lack of
  an urbanized subsurface drainage network. Resilient development should take advantage of this subtle difference in elevation and should commit to slowing further subsidence through effective groundwater management. Such a management regime is possible here given the site’s relative isolation within the drainage system and the ability to control water levels at few discharge locations. We believe the Six Flags/Jazzland site should serve as a demonstration of the forward-thinking water design and management principles stated in the City’s master plan. The eastern gateway to the delta should be anchored by water, our defining element.

 

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