Pontchartrain Basin Clearinghouse

Basin Facts

 

The Lake Pontchartrain Basin is a 12,173 km² (4,700 mi²) watershed and a total area of 25,123 km² (9,700 mi²)¹ encompassing 16 parishes in southeast Louisiana. It is one of the largest estuarine ecosystems on the Gulf coast and one of the largest in the United States. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin has the most diverse complex of environments in Louisiana, ranging from rolling woodlands in northern portions of the Basin to coastal wetlands in the southern part of the Basin. At the center of the Basin is the 1,632 km² (630 mi²) Lake Pontchartrain and the largest population center in Louisiana, the Greater New Orleans area, with 1.5 million individuals.

This Basin has served the communities surrounding it for more than two centuries and is an environmental asset equal to any in the southeastern United States. The coastal zone of Lake Pontchartrain and its Basin has offered opportunities for fishing, swimming, boating, crabbing and other recreational activities for families for generations. The Basin's commercial fishery and garden farms have supplied an array of seafood and produce to local dealers, as well as area restaurants. During the hot summers, people escaped to the Basin's water bodies to seek relief, particularly along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Clearly, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin is Louisiana's premier urban estuary and today it is our most environmentally impacted estuary. Over the last several decades, the Basin's water quality has declined; its shorelines have eroded; its wetlands have been lost; it has been mined for shells, oil and gas; dead zones have developed; fisheries resources have diminished; beaches are closed; and its substantial commercial and recreational values have been damaged.

Human activities are largely responsible for these adverse impacts on the environmental quality of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. Since the late 1940's, growth and development has increased runoff that changed and destroyed many habitats. Stormwater discharges, inadequate wastewater treatment and agricultural activities have significantly degraded water quality. Natural processes, combined with human activities, have caused the loss of thousands of acres of wetlands. In 1962, the first "no swimming" signs appeared along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain due to high levels of pollution. By the mid-1980's, almost every river, bayou or lake in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin was polluted and no longer fully supported their designated uses.

Since 1989, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) has led a coordinated effort to restore the environmental quality of the Basin. To achieve this goal, LPBF has built consensus on the environmental issues facing the Basin and developed strategies to manage and solve these problems. Through education programs, LPBF has built public awareness of these environmental challenges. Through research programs, LPBF has worked with area universities to better understand these environmental problems in order to find technical solutions. Through restoration efforts, LPBF has implemented programs and projects to bring back the environmental quality of the Basin. The University of New Orleans (UNO) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have conducted research to build a strong technical basis for formulation of sound strategies and programs for restoration. Many of the education, research and restoration programs and projects have been implemented in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All four of these organizations and many others are working cooperatively to develop the necessary tools to help restore the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. The Pontchartrain Clearinghouse is one of these tools.

 

 

1. Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foudation. Comprehensive Habitat Management Plan for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin. New Orleans, Louisiana, February 28, 2006 at <http://www.saveourlake.org/pdfs/JL/CHMP_final_%2022706.pdf>

 

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