Multiple Lines of Defense

This is an image of a viney plant This is Part 1 of Lesson 6 of Project Resilience curriculum.

Students will be able to identify CPRA projects along the coast and understand the impacts of these projects on the flood risk of coastal communities.

Learning Objectives

  • Students will understand the difference between risk and vulnerability.
  • Students will be able to identify and analyze the risks impacting their coastal communities.

Materials

Preparation

  • Print out copies of the Flood Risk and Coastal Communities Student Sheet and the Coastal Projects in Louisiana Student Sheet, one copy per group.
  • Gather details about any flooding events your school has experienced in the past.

Directions

Introducing Multiple Lines of Defense (15 min)

  1. Begin by asking students: How might coastal land loss affect our day to day activities? If the students have trouble answering the question, ask the questions below. Remind students to think of how wetland loss and subsidence lead to an increase in flood risk.
    • Have they heard of any school flooding or any damage to schools from flooding events? Is there any way an increasing flood risk may affect health facilities (hospitals, doctor offices)? Could roadways be impacted by an increasing flood risk?
  2. Pass out the Flood Risk and Coastal Communities Student Sheet. Once students have completed the student sheet, ask: What did you find surprising about the flood risk information? How could a community decrease their flood risk?
  3. Introduce students to the concept of multiple lines of defense (Slide 66). Explain how these defenses affect the flood risk of a community.
    • Scientists and engineers work to integrate hurricane protection with coastal restoration efforts to develop defense strategies for coastal residents. Human-made barriers complement natural barriers to provide multiple lines of defense against storms.
  4. Using the map of Terrebonne Parish (Slide 67), have students identify multiple lines of defense protecting their homes, both natural and human-made.
  5. Ask: What type of project or structure would form a strong defense for coastal communities? Review the goal of the Coastal Master Plan from the end of Lesson 5. Introduce students to the plan’s project list (Slide 68). Explain how these projects can form multiple lines of defense for coastal communities.

Considering how to strengthen the Louisiana Coast (25 min)

  1. Give each group a copy of the Coastal Projects in Louisiana Student Sheet. Explain that the type of coastal project constructed in an area depends on the project’s location and the location’s environmental threats. Using the Coastal Scenario Maps 1 & 2 and the CPRA Coast Master Plan Project Categories list, have students complete Task 1 of the student sheet.
  2. Once the groups have completed Task 1, have them move to a computer and complete Task 2 using the CRMS Spatial Viewer website. Students will need to turn off the CRMS site layer by unchecking the CRMS box on the left and turn on the Master Plan layer.
    • If students do not have internet access, students can also use the CPRA Terrebonne Parish Fact Sheet and CPRA Plaquemines Parish Fact Sheet instead of the CRMS Spatial Viewer.
    • You might notice that the CRMS Spatial Viewer performs better on certain web browsers than others (Internet Explorer seems to load the fastest).
  3. Once students have completed Task 2, ask: Were any of your selected projects included in the parish’s Master Plan list? What did you notice about the Plaquemines Parish projects? The Terrebonne Parish projects?
    • Plaquemines Parish includes sediment diversions from the Mississippi River. Terrebonne Parish includes more marsh creation projects and structural projection projects.
  4. Have students then zoom out to view the whole Louisiana coast (Slide 69). What projects stand out to you? How will these projects protect areas of the coast from eroding further or help restore areas of the coast that have been lost? How will these projects help coastal communities adapt to rising sea levels? How do these projects form or reinforce multiple lines of defense for coastal communities? (Slide 70)
  5. Review the definition of adaptation and explain the difference between resilience and adaptation. An example of resilience is identifying possible evacuation shelters in case of severe flooding, while an example of adaptation would be raising your home after flooding. Have students return to their CPRA Project list from the Coastal Projects in Louisiana Student Sheet. Ask: Which projects would you consider to be resilience projects? Adaptation projects? Why are both types of projects necessary for the restoration and protection of the coast? Explain that communities will still have to adapt to a changing coastline, even with the coastal protection and restoration projects.
    • Explain to students that community adaptations can increase the resilience of the community.
    • Terrebonne Parish is still projected to lose 40% of its land in the next 50 years, even with the planned projects.

Revisit Driving Question Board (10 min)

  • Have students revisit the class Driving Question Board (DQB). You might consider doing this in small groups and then share out as a whole class. Ask the following questions:
    • Are there any questions that we can now answer?
    • Do we want to re-arrange any of the questions?
    • Are there any connections between topics that we should show on the DQB?
    • Would anyone like to add any additional questions?

Assign Journal Prompt #12.

Prompt #12: Think of a coastal project in or around your community. How has this project affected your community? (The Coastal Projects in Louisiana Student Sheet from today’s lesson lists the different types of coastal projects.

 

 

Background

Adaptation: becoming more suited to your environment

CPRA Coastal Master Plan

Information below from the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority

  • Who is CPRA?
    • The CPRA is established as the single state entity with authority to articulate a clear statement of priorities and to focus development and implementation efforts to achieve comprehensive coastal protection for Louisiana.
    • The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s mandate is to develop, implement, and enforce a comprehensive coastal protection and restoration Master Plan.
  • History
    • Formed 2005 after the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
    • First Coastal Master Plan published in 2007
      • Updated every five years
  • Coastal Master Plan
    • Developed using the best available science and engineering, the master plan focuses our efforts and guides the actions needed to sustain our coastal ecosystem, safeguard coastal populations, and protect vital economic and cultural resources.
    • Additionally, the master plan provides the context needed to evaluate other activities in the coastal zone, including transportation, navigation, and port projects; oil and gas development; groundwater management and land use planning.
  • Project descriptions
    • Restoration Projects
      • Bank Stabilization: Onshore placement of earthen fill and vegetative plantings designed to reduce wave energies and maintain shorelines in open bays, lakes, and bayous.
      • Barrier Island/ Headland Restoration: Creation and restoration of dune, beach, and back-barrier marsh to restore Louisiana’s offshore barrier islands and headlands.
      • Diversion: Use of channels and/or structures to divert sediment and fresh water from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers into adjacent basins.
      • Hydrologic Restoration: Project features that restore natural hydrologic patterns either by conveying fresh water to areas that have been cut off by human-made features or by preventing the intrusion of saltwater into fresh areas through human-made channels and eroded wetlands
      • Living Shoreline: Establishment of bioengineered oyster reefs to improve oyster propagation and serve as breakwaters to attenuate wave energies.
      • Marsh Creation: Creation of new wetlands in open water areas through sediment dredging and placement.
      • Ridge Restoration: Re-establishment of historic ridges in basins through dredging, sediment placement, and vegetative plantings to restore natural ridge functions.
      • Shoreline Protection: Near-shore rock breakwaters to reduce wave energies on shorelines in open bays, lakes, sounds, and bayous.
    • Risk Reduction Projects
      • Structural Protection: levees, floodgates, floodwalls, and pump stations
      • Nonstructural Protection: elevation, floodproofing, voluntary, and acquisition
  • Cost
    • The total cost of the plan is $50 billion.
  • Terrebonne Parish projects:
    • Barrier island restoration
      • Raccoon Island
      • Whiskey Island
      • Trinity Island
      • East Timbalier Island
    • Marsh creation projects
      • North Lost Lake Marsh Creation/Enhancement Project
      • Madison Bay Marsh Creation and Terracing
    • Freshwater introduction

This is an image of cat tails

Credits

This activity was developed for Project Resilience, funded by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.