Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
Hydrogeology
The Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte National Historic Park (JELA) has the largest watershed of any park in the NPS – the entire Mississippi River basin upstream of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Davis Pond Project located on the west bank immediately upstream of New Orleans. The Mississippi River represents one of three main threats to water quality in the Barataria. While the river naturally flooded into the Barataria in historic times, flooding frequency and intensity are now regulated and, or course, landuse of the watershed has greatly changed. The second threat is urban runoff via six pumping stations that drain the adjacent communities of Westwego and Marrero. The third is the encroachment of saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico – a natural process enhanced or increased by the loss of wetlands.
Gulf Coast Network (GULN) water quality monitoring at JELA is designed to detect changes in water quality attributable to these three main vectors. The program was developed to take advantage of extant monitoring efforts by the state of Louisiana, Jefferson Parrish, the Coastal Reference Monitoring System (CRMS), and the USACE Davis Pond project. GULN has selected five locations to be monitored in the Barataria Preserve on monthly dates coordinated with the USACE Davis Pond project monitoring – this program which began in 1997, includes 22 sites from the inlet of the diversion to the Gulf of Mexico.
Sample Site Locations
Waggaman Canal (29 0 52' 5.84” 90 0 12' 12.72”) This site is located at the intersection of the Waggaman Canal and a canal that leads to Lake Cataouatche . It is a few hundred meters east of Cataouatche Pumping Station.
Bayou Bardeaux (29 0 52' 5.85” 90 0 9' 36.00”)Just south of numerous fishing camps, this site is located where Bayou Segnette leads to open waters of Lakes Cataouatche and Salvador .
Lower Tarpaper (29 0 45' 37.84” 90 0 8' 43.75”) This site is located where the Tarpaper Canal intersects Bayou Segnette.
Upper Tarpaper (29 0 48' 47.86” 90 0 7' 39.15”) This site is located deep within the Preserve at the northern end of Tarpaper Canal .
Millaudon Canal (29 0 51' 15.92” 90 0 7' 21.28”) Located on the Millaudon Canal , this site is downstream from the New Ames Pumping Station.
Parameters Collected
Field Data
Site ID code
Sample Collection Date
Sample Collection Time
Days since last significant rainfall
Air Temperature (C)
Specific Conductance (µS)
Dissolved Oxygen (mg/l)
Dissolved Oxygen (% saturation)
pH (SU)
Water Temperature (C)
Laboratory Data
Ammonia-N (mg/l)
Chloride (mg/l)
Fecal coliform (colinies/100ml)
Hardness, total (mg/l)
Nitrate/Nitrite – N (mg/l)
Total Metals: As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, Se, Zn
Sulfate (mg/l)
Total Phosphorous
Total Mercury
USGS Real Time Online Data Links
- USGS 073802375 Lake Salvador near Lafitte, LA
- USGS 2951190901217 L. Cataouatche at Whiskey Canal S of Waggaman, LA
- USGS 295501090190400 Davis Pond Freshwater Diversion near Boutte, LA
Extant Water Quality Monitoring Adjacent to Park
Data Folder Tree
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