How Many Feet Below Sea Level Is New Orleans?

How many feet below sea level is New Orleans? New Orleans is a city that defies odds because the entire city lies below sea level. In fact, New Orleans is about eight feet below sea level, on average.

When considering how far below sea level New Orleans is, it is important to understand that things vary slightly from spot to spot in the city and that sea level can change. However, on average, the city of New Orleans is approximately eight feet below sea level as determined by tide gauges off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

Some parts of the city are less than eight feet below sea level, while other parts are up to ten feet below sea level. With the entire city being below sea level, it is amazing that when it rains the city does not flood. However, this is prevented by special precautions the city has taken to ensure this does not happen.

Measuring Sea Level

To answer the question of how many feet below sea level is New Orleans, you need to understand how sea level is measured. Sea level is measured differently in different areas. It is measured using satellite images and tide gauges.

These two sophisticated devices measure the depth of sea level in different ways:

• Satellite Images: Satellites provide images to scientists which help to determine sea level based on different features of the ocean floor.
• Tide gauges: Tide gauges are devices which float in the water and use a fixed point on land to judge sea level. These gauges are all over across the globe and have helped scientists monitor fluctuations in sea level, such as in the monitoring of sea level rise in relation to global warming.

Flooding Precautions in New Orleans

So, now that you know that New Orleans is eight feet below sea level, you may wonder why New Orleans is not inundated with water or flooding when it rains.

In order for the city to exist as it does today, special precautions were needed to ensure that the city does not flood. This was done in a number of different ways.

The elements of the city that keep New Orleans from flooding are:

• Sea Walls: The surrounding areas to New Orleans are above sea level and act as a barrier in times of high tides. They also act as some degree of protection from hurricanes that travel up the Gulf coast.
• Levees: Levees were necessary to keep the city dry as well since it is surrounded to the north and south by the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. The levees keep the water from these two bodies of water from pouring into the center of the city.
• Pumping Stations and Canals: Additionally, when the city was built, it was constructed with a carefully organized system of canals and pumping stations. These elements of the city keep the land dry since New Orleans is completely sitting on top of spongy swamp land. The pumping stations pump water out of the city and into these canals which take the water out to sea in an attempt to keep the city from flooding.

Although these devices help to protect the city, they actually could hurt the city in the long run. Scientists estimate that the city of New Orleans is sinking at a rate of three feet per century. It is estimated that by the year 2100 the city of New Orleans will be entirely under water.