Strategically Placing Green Infrastructure: Cost-Effective Land Conservation in the Floodplain

Kousky, Carolyn; Olmstead, Sheila M.; Walls, Margaret; Macauley, Molly K.

doi:10.1021/es303938c

Cited by 64 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…Whipple (1969) argues that zoning should not be applied to all of the floodplain and that rather an optimization routine should be developed to optimally select the areas to be zoned. This is similar to the approach taken in Kousky et al (2013). However, this increases the complexity of the modeling process without necessarily simplifying the determination of the spatial extent of the CBA.…”

Section: Variable Selection For a Cbamentioning

confidence: 85%

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Cost–benefit analysis of flood‐zoning policies: A review of current practice

Hudson

Botzen

2019

WIREs Water

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One commonly proposed method to limit flood risk is land‐use or zoning policies which regulates construction in high‐risk areas, in order to reduce economic exposure and its vulnerability to flood events. Although such zoning regulations can be effective in limiting trends in flood risk, they also have adverse impacts on society, for instance by limiting local development of areas near the water. In order to judge whether proposed land‐use or zoning policies are a net benefit to society, they should be accepted or rejected based on a societal cost–benefit analysis (CBA). However, conducting a CBA of zoning regulation is complex and comprehensive guidelines of how to do such an analysis are lacking. We offer guidelines for good practice. In order to assess the costs and benefits of zoning as a climate change adaption strategy, they should be assessed at a societal level in order to account for public good features of flood risk reduction strategies, and because costs in one area can be benefits in another region. We propose a multistep process: first, determine the spatial extent of the zoning policy and how interconnected the zoned area is to other locations; second, conduct a CBA using monetary costs and benefits estimated from an integrated hydro‐economic model to investigate if total benefits exceed total costs; third, conduct a sensitivity analysis regarding the main assumptions; fourth, conduct a multicriteria analysis (MCA) of the normative outcomes of a zoning policy. A desirable policy is preferred in both the CBA and MCA. This article is categorized under: Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Value of Water Science of Water > Water Extremes Human Water > Methods

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Section: Variable Selection For a Cbamentioning

confidence: 85%

“…This also holds when the exogenous impacts of climate change are taken into account (Aerts et al, ). Kousky et al () also find that targeted land‐use strategies are more likely to offer a net benefit to society. Furthermore, the cases from North America conclude this was mainly due to the avoided flood impacts.…”

Section: Flood Risk Zoning Cbamentioning

confidence: 98%

Cost–benefit analysis of flood‐zoning policies: A review of current practice

Hudson

Botzen

2019

WIREs Water

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“…The most common paradigm for assessing the economic benefits of flood risk reduction is quantifying prevented losses. For example, Kousky et al (2013) examined the cost-benefit relationship of preventing conversion of natural and agricultural areas in the floodplain to residential use at the parcel level, and showed that avoided losses mostly offset missed development opportunities. Analyses on the effects of floods commonly estimate and compare losses ex-ante and ex-post, or for current and alternative scenarios (Shreve and Kelman 2014;Poussin et al 2015).…”

Section: Agricultural Practices and Flood Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flood Risk Reduction from Agricultural Best Management Practices

Antolini

Tate

Dalzell

et al. 2019

J American Water Resour Assoc

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Research Impact Statement: Agricultural best management practices (BMPs) can reduce flood risk, providing a co-benefit to nutrient reduction.ABSTRACT: Best management practices (BMPs) play an important role in improving impaired water quality from conventional row crop agriculture. In addition to reducing nutrient and sediment loads, BMPs such as fertilizer management, reduced tillage, and cover crops could alter the hydrology of agricultural systems and reduce surface water runoff. While attention is devoted to the water quality benefits of BMPs, the potential cobenefits of flood loss reduction are often overlooked. This study quantifies the effects of selected commonly applied BMPs on expected flood loss to agricultural and urban areas in four Iowa watersheds. The analysis combines a watershed hydrologic model, hydraulic model outputs, and a loss estimation model to determine relationships between hydrologic changes from BMP implementations and annual economic flood loss. The results indicate a modest reduction in peak discharge and economic loss, although loss reduction is substantial when urban centers or other high-value assets are located downstream in the watershed. Among the BMPs, wetlands, and cover crops reduce losses the most. The research demonstrates that watershed-scale implementation of agricultural BMPs could provide benefits of flood loss reduction in addition to water quality improvements.(

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“…Restoring wetlands, reconnecting incised streams to their floodplains through the removal of retired roads or railroads, and installing structures that mimic the ecological services provided by beavers are all examples of natural infrastructure-based methods of slowing runoff and promoting water retention in dewatered basins [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Previous research on the feasibility of wetlands and other natural infrastructures to attenuate flood and waste water has yielded promising results [14,[23][24][25][26][27]. Beaver mimicry structures, for instance, can improve water quality and slow water flow, generate riparian vegetation, enhance channel stability and wetland hydrologic processes, deliver ancillary benefits to fisheries, and provide cost-effective natural storage opportunities [15][16][17][18][19]21].…”

Section: Natural Infrastructure and The Quantification Of Natural Watmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Geospatial Approach for Identifying and Exploring Potential Natural Water Storage Sites

Holmes

McEvoy

Dixon

et al. 2017

Water

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Across the globe, climate change is projected to affect the quantity, quality, and timing of freshwater availability. In western North America, there has been a shift toward earlier spring runoff and more winter precipitation as rain. This raises questions about the need for increased water storage to mitigate both floods and droughts. Some water managers have identified natural storage structures as valuable tools for increasing resiliency to these climate change impacts. However, identifying adequate sites and quantifying the storage potential of natural structures is a key challenge. This study addresses the need for a method for identifying and estimating floodplain water storage capacity in a manner that can be used by water planners through the development of a model that uses open-source geospatial data. This model was used to identify and estimate the storage capacity of a 0.33 km 2 floodplain segment in eastern Montana, USA. The result is a range of storage capacities under eight natural water storage conditions, ranging from 900 m 3 for small floods to 321,300 m 3 for large floods. Incorporating additional hydraulic inputs, stakeholder needs, and stakeholder perceptions of natural storage into this process can help address more complex questions about using natural storage structures as ecosystem-based climate change adaptation strategies.

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Strategically Placing Green Infrastructure: Cost-Effective Land Conservation in the Floodplain

Cited by 64 publications

References 25 publications

Cost–benefit analysis of flood‐zoning policies: A review of current practice

Cost–benefit analysis of flood‐zoning policies: A review of current practice

Flood Risk Reduction from Agricultural Best Management Practices

A Geospatial Approach for Identifying and Exploring Potential Natural Water Storage Sites

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