August 2016 brought record floods to the Baton Rouge Capital
Region, equaling and surpassing the historic 1983 flood which many pointed to as a worst-case flooding scenario. After
decades of continued land development of the watersheds in this region, fresh, often
contentious discussion around the impacts have been flowing in the public
discourse. With the fork in the road these concerns present to evolving public
policy and expectations upon private development patterns, we've invited Bob Jacobsen,
engineering consultant on flood hydrology, flood risk, & floodplain
management, to illuminate the factors that contribute to flooding in the
region.
Jacobsen will address the July 20th meeting of the Baton
Rouge Group of the Sierra Club about how storm water runoff has been
impacted by: 1) rapid and pervasive development; 2) man-made modifications to
channels (dredging, straightening, lining, etc.) and to floodplains
(road/railroad embankments); 3) subsidence; and 4) anthropogenic climate change
(perhaps the greatest impact). He will also discuss the misconceptions of flood
zones and will suggest steps that need to be taken to prevent or reduce
flooding and its impact on lives and property.
Location: The
Backpacker - 7656 Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA.
Event open to the public. Join the Conversation, Invite, and Bring a
friend.
Doors open at 6:30 pm for refreshments and conversation.
Presentation from 7:00 - 8:30 pm.
Doors open at 6:30 pm for refreshments and conversation.
Presentation from 7:00 - 8:30 pm.
More about the presenter:
Bob Jacobsen is
a professional engineer with over 35 years of experience addressing complex
water management issues. Since 2002, he has served as a hydrologic consultant
to the Amite River Basin Commission.
He has also worked for both the Southeast
Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - East & the La. Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority
since 2011.
During the first two decades of his
career Bob managed and authored a diverse range of
advanced studies for regional water resource planning, industrial wastewater
and waste management upgrades and designs, and Superfund Site groundwater and
wetland contamination remediation. For more information on his studies and
contributions, go to his website.
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TAKE NOTE! We are transitioning Outings and Events Reminders
on the web to the Meetup Page of our parent Delta
Chapter of the Sierra Club.. Please visit and join it today to get all the
upcoming Sierra Club activities of interest to you from throughout Louisiana.
These events will be easily addable and sync-able to your common iCal, gCal,
and Outlook formats. Events we host will also continue to be posted to our Facebook Page.
