NEW ORLEANS – On Tuesday, the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) in partnership with the City of New Orleans and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO) hosted a live stream press event in front of the planter box at the Treme Recreation Community Center, to announce the launch of the “Every Drop Makes a Difference,” public awareness campaign.
The campaign will educate New Orleans residents on small steps they can take on their private property and in their communities to reduce the risk of flooding.
The goal of the campaign is to move citizens to action by having them install rain barrels and rain gardens on their properties, redirect the downspouts on their gutters inward, utilize more permeable pavement instead of concrete, do their part to ensure catch basins in their neighborhoods remain clean and a host of other small things that can have a large impact on potential flooding.
The announcement comes just as New Orleans enters Hurricane Season, which kicked off on June 1.
During heavy significant rain events, billions of gallons of water can pour down, along with an old drainage system and a city below sea level, flooding occurs. The SWBNO is working to improve and replace the aged drainage system, however, in the interim, citizens need to be a part of the solution. With this ongoing work, GNOF and SWBNO will provide additional steps that residents can take to help reduce flood risks in New Orleans through the Every Drop Makes a Difference campaign.
“Through our partnership with the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, we have developed an innovative and community-based campaign to help residents manage water on their properties, minimize water flowing into drainage system during storms and significant rain events overall to reduce flooding in our city,” said Andy Kopplin, President and CEO of GNOF.
The campaign will educate citizens on the drainage system’s capacity and will encourage residents’ participation in water management through a series of messages prompting them to take action, as well as directing them to resources to help them do so. The campaign will launch across the city through a series of collateral materials including a new website, video content, radio ads, sponsored content, digital ads, t-shirts, yard signs, and more. Residents will be encouraged to show off rain mitigation projects utilizing the hashtag #slowtheflow on social media. Additionally, New Orleans native and Actor/Producer Wendell Pierce will serve as a spokesperson for the campaign.
“Through this great initiative, neighbors can join together to slow the flow of water into our drains and improve flow to our pumps,” said Cheryl Austin, Executive Director of the Greater Treme Consortium. “This campaign will enable Greater New Orleans residents to take simple steps that will provide an overall improvement for our beloved city.”