In late 2005, the twin tragedies of Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita exposed Louisiana’s coastal crisis to the world.  To address this crisis, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) proposed in 2005 a comprehensive plan to sustain and protect Louisiana’s coastal communities called the multiple lines of defense strategy (MLODS).  More than just stapling coastal restoration plans to flood protection plans, this innovative approach provided a clarity of vision for integrated planning of what had been a complex muddle to disjointed coastal restoration and flood protection projects.  As an alternative to this complex muddle, MLODS framed the goal of sustaining Louisiana’s coast as a effort to fully integrate restoration of the natural system with building and maintaining a robust flood protection system.  Since the initial proposal, MLODS has  been endorsed by many key government agencies and planning initiatives. 

At the state level, the Louisiana State Master Plan (SMP) provided a key endorsement.  More than any other endorsement, this planning document sets the stage for prioritizing and funding future restoration and protection projects.  The first SMP was released in 2007, and it rests on four key technical assumptions including the assumption that “plans for hurricane protection must rely on multiple lines of defense.”

A revised SMP for coastal Louisiana is currently under development, and a draft of the plan will be released for public comment in early 2012.  An ambitious effort to assess as many proposed projects as possible, this process began with the first step of compiling a master list of projects that had been proposed in previous plans.  First on the list of documents -- LPBF’s  “A Plan to Sustain Coastal Louisiana Using the Multiple Lines of Defense Strategy” and “Comprehensive Habitat Management Plan For The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.”   From this list, numerous computer models were run to assess each of these projects in an integrated fashion that unites coastal restoration with flood protection. While it is too early to tell if the 2012 SMP will formally endorse MLODS, it is reassuring to know that the revised SMP followed an approach that parallels MLODS.

While the SMP provides the overall vision and a prioritized list of projects, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be the key Federal agency charged with implementing the large scale projects and a key playerin seeing the plan to fruition.  The USACE’s endorsement of the MLODS came with the 2009 LACPR “Final Technical Report,” which states explicitly “the best strategy [for storm risk reduction] is to rely on multiple lines of defense.”  This document further states “The multiple lines of defense approach avoids reliance on single risk reduction measures, which, if compromised, would leave vulnerable areas without recourse” and that “within the context of a multiple lines of defense or comprehensive system, numerous risk reduction measures can be combined to form alternative plans.”

In addition to state and Federal endorsements, MLODS has also received endorsements from municipal governments.  As a practical matter, municipal endorsements are important, because cities are in a good position to undertake local, community-specific coastal restoration and community resilience projects that best complement the larger projects implemented at the state and Federal levels.  In August 2010, the City of New Orleans released its twenty year master plan which lists “Multiple-lines-of-defense strategy” as a key necessity for a fulfilling a “Vision for Sustainability.”  Similarly the Plaquemines parish master plan also embraces MLODS, while the parish president has stated that “coastal restoration in Plaquemines Parish must provide the proper  balance to adequately protect the valuable wetland habitat while providing adequate flood protection for the residents of the parish.”

Also at the local level, MLODS has been endorsed by the organizations charged with maintaining the flood protection system.  In it’s 2011 Strategic Plan, the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority, with jurisdictional over St. Bernard Parish along with portions of Orleans and Jefferson pariahs, states that “we believe that a “multiple lines of defense” strategy should be adopted to reduce flood risks. We further believe that the system must be resilient to overtopping, using splash guards, armoring, and other engineered methods in order to prevent catastrophic levee and floodwall failures.”  Further up river, on February 18, 2008, the Pontchartrain Levee District, which tepresents St. John, St. James, Iberville, Ascension, East Baton Rouge Parishes and the the eastbank of St. Charles parish adopted a resolution to: “Support of the Multiple Lines of Defense Strategy to Integrate Flood Protection and Coastal Restoration.”  Likewise in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes, levee officials have also verbally embraced multiple lines of defense.

Local, state, and national non-government organizations (NGOs) consist of associations of members of the public and they represent the interests and preferences of their memberships.  When an NGO endorses MLODS, it both leverages the weight of the organization to move MLODS forward and it also provides an avenue for the members to become more aware of MLODS.  In the region, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana,the Gulf Restoration Network, and the Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development been important partners with LPBF in moving MLODS forward.  Not only have they endorsed the strategy, they have also actively participated in the strategies development and outreach.  Additional NGOs that have endorsed MLODS include: the Lake Catherine Civic Association, the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, and the National Audubon Society.

While many levels of government have endorsed MLODS, we have to ask does endorsing it on paper equal fully embracing and implementing it?  To be certain, MLODS is more than just building multiple structural impediments that sequentially mitigate storm surge.  MLODS is an integrated strategy that couples the flood protection system with the natural ecosystem so that the two interact in a complementary fashion that strengthens both.  So in this since, a proposed levee that cuts across a basin may be described by its proponents as a line of defense, but if it interferes with the hydrology need to maintain the basin’s ecosystem then it is not a line of defense.  To be consistent MLODS, new levees must be aligned in a manner that maintains the processes that keep the ecosystem functioning, because a functioning ecosystem will provide additional lines of defense that complement the levee’s function.