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Rice Farm


Adam Bobbette and Karen May
University of Toronto, 2010

Problem
New Orleans’s lowest, poorest neighborhoods lack both flood protection and economic opportunity: the constant threat of inundation is a barrier to investment.

Proposal
The project combines water conveyance and storage with small-scale cooperative agriculture. Channels along the neutral grounds transport storm water to rice paddies cultivated on adjudicated properties. The paddies are built on concrete slabs to avoid soil contaminants, and the cultivation cycle is calibrated to seasonal rainfall patterns. The crop is not labor-intensive, and even small areas can produce enough rice to generate profit.