The Multiple Lines of Defense Strategy to Sustain Coastal Louisiana

Abstract

Abstract Coastal Louisiana has entered a period when the convergence of at least two powerful processes is working against its survival. Meteorological processes driving tropical systems have more frequently generated category 4 and 5 hurricanes and, although not a certainty, more destructive hurricanes are predicted for coming decades. Since the 1950s, the processes driving coastal land loss in Louisiana have continued only slightly abated. A deteriorating coast and historically inadequate levees make Louisiana acutely susceptible to the negative consequences of hurricane surge events. Coastal Louisiana's crisis of vulnerability is the continued temporal overlap of weakened hurricane protection with more frequent, intense hurricanes. The multiple lines of defense strategy proposes that two essential elements of the Louisiana coast be managed and perpetuated, which together can economically sustain the coast. The two planning elements are (1) using natural and manmade features (lines of defense) that dire...