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Baton Rouge’s past, present and future is deeply intertwined with water. Yet, as climate pressures intensify, population grows and development patterns evolve, the city’s relationship with water is changing.
Moffatt & Nichol, an infrastructure advisory and engineering firm that is marking the 20th anniversary of its office in Baton Rouge, works at the center of that challenge. It helps cities rethink infrastructure, resilience and how they live with water. That challenge is growing more complex and more urgent. Increasing rainfall, intensifying flooding and extreme heat have strained aging infrastructure, and locally this poses a risk to Baton Rouge’s economic, environmental and community resilience.
“We have this concrete urban watershed. We live in a very rainy, subtropical environment. And it’s very flat, so there’s nowhere for the water to go,” says Vice President Jonathan Hird.
At the same time, “we’re surrounded by water, but the way we developed didn’t respond to that,” says Haley Blakeman, Gulf Coast Resilience and Planning Lead.
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Top executives: Jonathan Hird, Vice President; Haley Blakeman, Resilience and Planning Lead Gulf Coast
Phone: 225.336.2075
Address: 301 Main Street, Suite 800, Baton Rouge, 70801
Website: www.moffattnichol.com
Reimagining how communities live with water lies at the center of Moffatt & Nichol’s approach to infrastructure and urban water management. This involves adapting existing infrastructure to enable it to flex with the landscape.
This means that where existing infrastructure can’t be replaced, Moffatt & Nichol can work with the landscape—whether it has been built on or not—to create more space to hold excess stormwater. This might be conservation easements, parks, or lakes that hold water while also serving as recreational spaces.
“It’s about ensuring sponge-like green space and manageable storage is incorporated into our lived environments,” says LeeAnn Fitch, Regional Stormwater Lead.
When bayous swell and heavy rain falls, this approach to infrastructure provides room for the water, reducing risk to people and property, Fitch adds. Moffatt & Nichol’s integrated approach brings together expertise in engineering, landscape architecture, urban planning, design and architecture. Using this approach, the firm has worked on projects across the state, from New Orleans’ Urban Water Plan to the USACE Sustainable Rivers Program, to the Louisiana Watershed Initiative.
Moffatt & Nichol’s expertise and experience extend beyond technical aspects. “We understand the technical wherewithal of how the system functions, but we also understand how people experience space,” Blakeman says. “Every time we’re looking at infrastructure, we ask how many different ways can it serve. We’re always thinking about how to connect people with nature and with each other.”
” The firm prides itself on its deep, personal connection to Baton Rouge and recruits locally, enabling the next generation of talented engineers, landscape architects, planners and scientists to stay close to their roots. “
Moffatt & Nichol also invests in developing, attracting and retaining local talent. Through relationships with flagship academic institutions such as LSU, the firm facilitates skills development and provides opportunities for early-career professionals to gain valuable experience.
“We work on very challenging projects that are interesting and give young professionals the freedom and ability to mature and not only work on the technical things, but also engage with the public,” says Gerald Songy, Senior Coastal Engineer, an LSU graduate who returned to Baton Rouge to work at Moffatt & Nichol.
Moffatt & Nichol complements its strong local knowledge and experience with global expertise. The Baton Rouge team has worked on major design projects for cities including Charleston, Houston, Mobile, New Orleans and New York.
” Reimagining how communities live with water lies at the center of Moffatt & Nichol’s approach to infrastructure and urban water management. This involves adapting existing infrastructure to enable it to flex with the landscape. “
“We’ve seen how things are done in other locations—and how they shouldn’t be done,” Hird says. “That experience helps us partner with clients on solutions that are proven, not experimental.”
With technical expertise and innovation, local talent, and strong community engagement, as Moffatt & Nichol looks to its next 20 years, it is helping Baton Rouge reimagine its dynamic relationship with water, ensuring the city thrives and sustains its resilience well into the future.
