Professor Committee Member, New Orleans Regional Hurricane   Protection Projects Director, Water Resources Research Institute Education: BSCE, Mississippi State MSCE, North Carolina State Ph.D., Harvard Office:  202 New East Phone:  (919) 962-4756 Fax:  (919) 962-5206 Email:  dmoreau@email.unc.edu

Dr. Moreau appointed to the Committee on New Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection Projects
Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of much of the New Orleans metro area prompted many
questions about the performance of the city’s hurricane protection system.  To help provide credible
scientific and engineering answers regarding the performance of this system, the Committee on New
Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection Projects has been convened to review data gathered by the U.S
Army Corps of Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.  

As a committee member, Dr. Moreau will focus his investigation on three primary topics: a) design capacity
of the hurricane protection system, b) forces exerted against the system and system response, and
c) factors that resulted in overtopping, breaching, or failure of levees and floodwalls.


Moreau returns as WRRI Director
David Moreau has been named director of the Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI).  WRRI is a unit
of The University of North Carolina system established in 1965 and is authorized by the Water Resources
Research Act of 1964 to administer and promote federal/state partnerships on water-related issues.  WRRI
identifies and supports research needed to help solve water quality and water resources problems in North
Carolina and the region.  Dr. Moreau also served as WRRI director from 1983 to 1995.


Research and Practice
Dr. Moreau has research interests in the analysis, planning, financing, and evaluation of water and related
environmental programs.  His publications include work in systems analysis, planning and management
of urban water systems, management of water supplies during droughts, and planning and evaluation of
watershed management programs.  He has chaired the board of a local water and sewer authority, worked
for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, chaired several state-level environmental committees and
commissions, and served on national advisory committees.  Dr. Moreau has also served as the department
chair and has been an associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.


Diversity-Related Research
In Spring 2005, Dr. Moreau developed a workshop course (PLAN 223) that addressed the water supply and
wastewater disposal needs for three minority communities in the vicinity of Mebane, NC.  This course
analyzed complex community issues: involving water quality, regulatory programs, and institutional
arrangements.  Dr. Moreau also examines how regulatory demands affect the affordability of North Carolinia’s
water supply, and how lower income families experience a disproportionate share of hurricane damage.


Professional Activities
• Conference panel member - Adaptive Management of Water Quality in the Neuse River and Estuary:
  A research panel on adaptive management of aquatic systems. (Duke University 2004)
• National Research Council expert committee member - advise Pittsburgh region on water quality management
  (in particular how to address a potential $3 billion-plus problem of reducing or eliminating combined sewer overflow).
• National Research Council expert committee member - review studies prepared by the International Joint
  Commission on the Great Lakes Committee. (review Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River studies)


Public Service
• Chairman, North Carolina Environmental Management Commission - The EMC is the state's administrative
  rulemaking commission for water allocation, water quality management, air quality management, and
  groundwater protection.  It is also the final agency decision maker on environmental permits, contested
  cases, and civil penalties.


Recent Publication
• Water Resources Development: Recent Trends in the Decision Making Process, (Co-author) John J. Boland,
  Warren Viessman, Gerry Galloway, David Moreau, Cliff Russell, Nicholas Flores, Charles Howe, Peter Rogers,
  published by the Institute for Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2005. 
  (Also under review by the Johns Hopkins Press)