The Mississippi River and LSU lakes are wonderful resources that can be used to help brand the Capital Region and promote it to professionals as an attractive place to live and work, according to panelists at a forum today dedicated to water issues.
“Our water resources can be part of our branding here,” said Kyle Zeringue of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. “Folks are gravitating towards the lakes, they’re gravitating towards the river. They want to be near water. We need to use that to our advantage.”
Zeringue pointed to recent developments along the river—the Water Campus, the IBM building and the improvements to the riverfront at Florida Street downtown—as well as the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s plan to rehabilitate the lake system as examples of how the city is doing more with its water resources.
“These are exciting developments that are changing our skyline,” he says.
Fellow panelist Julie Laperouse, who formerly worked at BRAC and is now with Emergent Method, said that in her experience young professionals in particular want to be near water.
“They want to be in a community that appreciates, promotes and respects their water resources,” she said. “We do all those things, but we could probably kick it up a notch and do an even better job.”
Today’s forum—“Capital Region Water in 2050: Opportunities and Challenges”—was sponsored by the Environment and Health Council of Louisiana, in partnership with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and was dedicated to advancing a long-term vision for use of the Capital Region’s water resources.
Earlier in the day, Water Institute of the Gulf Policy Research Director Kai Midboe said during the conference’s keynote address that the state must develop a “water budget” and “water code” to better regulate, conserve and leverage its water resources.
—Stephanie Riegel
