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Summit featuring floodplain, water management experts

Posted at 10:14 AM, Feb 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-19 18:24:32-05
The Louisiana Watershed Initiative summit featuring experts in floodplain and water management at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in the LITE Center Theater at 537 Cajundome Blvd. in Lafayette. (PHOTO: KATC)
The Louisiana Watershed Initiative summit featuring experts in floodplain and water management at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in the LITE Center Theater at 537 Cajundome Blvd. in Lafayette. (PHOTO: KATC)

 

The Louisiana Watershed Initiative hosted a summit featuring experts in floodplain and water management on Tuesday in Lafayette.

The summit, titled Building the Foundation: Sharing Lessons Learned & Addressing Challenges Specific to Louisiana, brought together local experts and their national colleagues in watershed management.

Featured speakers included:

  • Ceil Strauss, CFM, State Floodplain Manager, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
  • Ataul Hannan, P.E., CFM, Director of Planning, Harris County Flood Control District, Harris County, Texas
  • Kevin Houck, P.E., CFM, Watershed and Flood Protection Section Chief, Colorado Water Conservation Board
  • Tim Katers, AICP, CDBG-DR Planning Manager, Colorado Department of Local Affairs
  • Jamie Huffman, J.D. and Kristen Hilferty, J.D., Senior Research Fellows, Tulane Law School Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy
  • Ehab Meselhe, Ph.D., P.E., Professor, Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering, Tulane University
  • Monique Boulet, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Acadiana Planning Commission

Local and state elected officials, engineers, floodplain managers, data experts, members of academia and the general public were invited to attend and participate. Click here to view the agenda.

Gov. John Bel Edwards established the Council on Watershed Management in 2018 through Executive Order which serves as the coordinated, interagency structure at the state level for watershed-based flood risk reduction. In August 2018, the Louisiana Watershed Initiative was launched to serve as the programmatic arm under which all related efforts operate.