1. B A T O N R O U G E A R E A F O U N D A T I O N . b r a f . o r g
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fundamental aim of The Water Institute of
the Gulf is developing predictive modeling
tools for use in protection and restoration of
coastlines and deltas. Its initial focus is the
Mississippi River Delta and other fragile
ecosystems along the Gulf of Mexico.
But just as threatened wetlands
span the globe, new science has expanded the reach of institute
researchers to vulnerable coastal terrain some 8,000-plus-miles
from its headquarters in downtown Baton Rouge.
The Office of Naval Research, the arm of the Navy focused on
basic scientific research, has engaged the institute in a multi-
year project to improve understanding of sediment dynamics in
the Mekong Delta in southwestern Vietnam.
Although members of its team of experts have deep experi-
ence outside the Gulf region, the project in Southeast Asia is a
first of its kind for The Water Institute, now in its third year of
operation.
“This is a Louisiana institute being called upon to look at
global challenges,” said Nick Speyrer, director of planning and
outreach. “This is new for us.”
Its work on the other side of the world plays out against a
backdrop of complex geopolitics, natural systems and food secu-
rity for millions of people.
Massive hydroelectric dams planned by China and other
upriver nations that border the Mekong will impede the flow of
sediment into the delta, one of the most richly diverse regions
on Earth.
That puts food security for millions of people at risk. Reduced
sediment flow prevents key nutrients from reaching rice fields in
lower Vietnam and will cause other food-related environmental
threats, including adverse impacts on fish-migration patterns.
The Water Institute’s work involves collecting water samples
and other measurements from the vast floodplains where the
2,703-mile Mekong River empties and branches on its course to
the South China Sea.
Its researchers will make two trips to the region to take
samples in low- and high-river conditions.
Back in Baton Rouge, those measurements will be used to test
and develop modeling systems that simulate changes in Mekong
River conditions from additional dams, rising sea levels and
other factors, explained Dr. Mead Allison, director of physical
processes and sediment systems.
Project findings could help to shape Mekong River dams in a
Smart
waterWater Institute expands its work to Vietnam.
By Sara Bongiorni

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C U R R E N T S . t h i r d q u a r t e r t w e n t y - f i f t e e n
way that poses less risk to food supplies and delta ecosystems,
although researchers won’t make recommendations to the Navy
or other officials.
“The idea is to create (predictive) models that help make
better-informed decisions about the consequences of various
actions,” said Allison.
Added Speyrer: “We’re in the business of building tools to link
knowledge to action.”
The project will also bolster tools and analysis used to make
decisions about Louisiana’s eroding coast by giving research-
ers additional opportunity to test models relevant to decisions
about Gulf fisheries, oyster beds and storm protection.
“Being able to test and apply models to different systems
makes (the model) more robust,” Allison said.
Allison and other members of the research team are collabo-
rating with researchers and students at Vietnamese universities
as part of the Navy project. Institute staff will return to Vietnam
this summer to train local scientists and students in modeling
techniques related to the Mekong work.
The work has also required ground-level trust building with
research teams in Vietnam along with practical, nuts-and-bolts
planning, such as finding local boats to take researchers into
remote areas of the delta.
“This is about building partnerships and improving modeling
techniques,” said Speyrer. “This is building on the core of our
business.” •
WATER KEEPERS
The Baton Rouge Area Foundation collaborated with
state and federal leaders to create The Water Institute
of the Gulf. The Institute provides independent science
to inform decisions on coastal sustainability, not
only along the Gulf Coast but around the world. The
Institute will be a centerpiece of The Water Campus, a
35-acre development on Nicholson Drive for scientists,
researchers and engineers working on perils to
coastlines. Commercial Properties, which develops and
manages real estate for the Foundation, is building The
Water Campus.
THE WATER INSTITUTE
OF THE GULF