New Orleans and Paris Partner on Stormwater Management
New Orleans aims to improve local flood prevention through a technical collaboration with Paris city officials.
Updated on Oct. 22, 2026 in Safety
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New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and Paris officials have launched a partnership to share expertise on stormwater management. The collaboration focuses on utilizing advanced predictive modeling and drainage technology to mitigate flooding risks.
Why it matters
New Orleans is actively seeking new strategies to handle heavy rainfall and improve drainage infrastructure. By studying how Paris manages its water systems, local leaders hope to enhance the city's flood prevention capabilities.
The Austerlitz Stormwater Basin in Paris, completed in 2024 at a cost of $98 million, provides a storage capacity of 13.2 million gallons. This compares to the 4-million-gallon capacity of the basin project currently under development at the former Mercy Hospital site in New Orleans.
The players
Helena Moreno
Helena Moreno is the Mayor of New Orleans who is spearheading efforts to upgrade the city's stormwater management and flood defense systems.
The details
Mayor Helena Moreno toured the Austerlitz facility to evaluate how Paris handles large-scale drainage operations. The partnership allows agencies in both cities to exchange data on predictive modeling and infrastructure designs to refine local flood mitigation efforts.
Timeline
The Austerlitz Stormwater Basin was completed in 2024.
Mayor Helena Moreno visited the facility in Paris on October 22, 2026.
Seasonal Patterns
The partnership between New Orleans and Paris follows a pattern set by the Austerlitz Stormwater Basin in its approach to managing heavy urban rainfall through sub-surface capacity. This collaboration mirrors efforts by major cities to upgrade aging drainage systems to address modern flood risk frequency.
Residents should continue to follow official city drainage alerts and monitor local flood prevention project updates at the former Mercy Hospital site. This partnership aims to eventually reduce the frequency and severity of flooding experienced by homeowners and local businesses during heavy storms.
The takeaway
This international collaboration highlights the growing reliance on global knowledge sharing to solve localized climate and infrastructure challenges. New Orleans residents may see future improvements in drainage performance as the city integrates new technical modeling approaches.
Further reading
For more on flood prevention efforts, visit the Safety section.
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Should local governments prioritize high-tech infrastructure projects to mitigate flood risks in your area?
