By Richard J. Dolesh, Chief of Public Policy for the National Recreation and Policy Association
A pristine lake reflects snow-covered mountains at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. (AP Images)
The destructive power of floodwater has been on full display in the U.S. this past year. From the damaging floods along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers this spring, to the coastal flooding and widespread storm damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, tens of millions of Americans have been inconvenienced or worse by flooding this year. The costs of damages will run in the tens of billions of dollars.
The U.S. has spent enormous sums to chop, channelize, and straighten rivers as well as to build vast levee systems to protect developed infrastructure built in floodplains. Yet in spite of these efforts, we continue to face grave threats and substantial destruction of property.
Extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and other climate change conditions are likely to only make conditions worse and federal funding to address these infrastructure issues is likely to decrease significantly.
There is a better way to coexist with our increasingly flood-prone rivers and waterways and that is to just let them flood– but in a designed, calculated way, allowing rivers and inland waterways to fill natural floodplains that have been set aside as public open space and parks. These floodable parks can then serve multiple purposes as a means of retaining and controlling flood waters and also as areas for active public use and conservation.
The United States must re-think longstanding public policies that allow and even encourage inappropriate development in flood-prone areas, and replace such policies with a strategic vision that combines public land-acquisition with restoration of wetlands and natural floodplains and which will allow our rivers and waterways to become assets and contributors to the health of our nation’s infrastructure, not liabilities that are increasingly expensive to maintain.
One proven method of reducing the impacts of flooding on developed infrastructure is the Dutch model of “Room for the River” in which flood prone areas are set aside for crops, conservation, and recreation. When flooding inevitably occurs on these lands, it does not cause the wrenching disruptions and loss of life and property that occurs annually in the U.S. In a country whose land is 60% below sea level, the Netherlands have adopted a sensible long-term vision that strategically allows flooding to occur, but which produces minimal damage to valuable infrastructure or public safety.
More floodplains and flood prone areas should be strategically set aside as public open space, designed to conserve natural resources and programmed for public use with trails, greenways, blueways, and other outdoor recreation resources that conserve wildlife habitat, improve health, and contribute to livable, sustainable communities.
Parks that allow Room for the River can be a key solution to improving our nation’s infrastructure, reducing property damage and loss, and saving billions in taxpayer’s dollars.
Discussion question: What has your experience with flooding been?
