New Orleans is moving from plans to action in a large-scale rethinking of the city’s relationship with water. The city has begun to embrace “green infrastructure” as a water management strategy, rather than just relying on pumping out rainwater.
Earthen channels winding like serpents across a hilly landscape are not a common sight everywhere. They appear quite misplaced in a terrain that is highly undulating and rugged, covered with dry deciduous forests and dotted with rocky outcrops. Such a terrain is hardly conducive for agriculture, and irrigation seems unfeasible in villages located in the back of beyond. Yet the sheer will and determination of humans to challenge the impossible and put forth remarkable and ingenious works should never be underestimated.