Tidally Influenced New Orleans Canal Network Benefits From Accurate Data

The Southern Louisiana Hurricane Protection System includes a network of levees, floodwalls, floodgates, and pumping stations in New Orleans, Louisiana. This network includes monitoring equipment designed to improve management of water levels throughout the system. Water level monitoring helps synchronize pumping and assures that all elements of the water level control system are within proper ranges. Water level monitoring is also conducted around Lake Pontchartrain and at locations upstream and downstream of locks. In addition, groundwater levels are checked throughout the district to scrutinize levee integrity and condition. Both fresh water and saltwater influence water level changes in New Orleans. In areas where salinity values vary due to mixing, rainfall, or tides, water level measurements must be adjusted by compensating for changes in water density due to changes in salinity.

Since Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast in August 2005, the USACE has fortified New Orleans city canals with control gates and pumping stations—and added a district-wide water level monitoring network rooted in the continuous readings from In-Situ® Inc. Level TROLL 500 and Aqua TROLL 200 instruments.

"We'd like to convert all our similar field instruments to Level TROLL 500 sensors," said Bill Emmett, Electronics Technician with the Electronics Lab of the USACE's New Orleans District. Emmett manages all equipment related to water level monitoring throughout the state.