Water Quality Programs & Projects
To document Lake Pontchartrain’s water quality and encourage people to return to the lake, PC started the “Basin-Wide Water Quality Monitoring Program” in 2001. In this program we perform weekly water quality monitoring at twelve recreational sites around Lake Pontchartrain.
To clean the rivers and streams in the Pontchartrain Basin (particularly those of the lake), PC began the Sub-Basin Pollution Source Tracking Program in 2002 to track down and clean up fecal pollution sources. In this program we combine water quality monitoring, assistance to home and commercial wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and public outreach/education.
While wastewater is not a glamorous topic, it is the main reason that rivers in the Pontchartrain Basin and Lake Pontchartrain itself became polluted.
Pontchartrain Conservancy were back in the field after landfall to help around the basin following the hurricane in August 2021.
Pontchartrain Conservancy has once again partnered with the River Network and Osprey Initiative to install one of their patented Litter Gitter devices!
As the majority of New Orleans lies below sea level, the drainage system relies on pumping storm water into drainage canals and directly into Lake Pontchartrain. Contaminated rainwater runoff can have a major impact on the lake’s water quality. PC has partnered with the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, NORA, LUSC, and Dana Brown and Associates to monitor rainwater in the "Pontilly" Neighborhood before and after installation of green infrastructure designed to treat storm water before it drains into the lake.
