Holistic Flood Management Under Climate Impacts

Nov 18, 2024
By Harry Zhang, PhD, PE, The Water Research Foundation

Municipalities and utilities are facing unprecedented challenges as they plan for extreme precipitation and flooding, which are becoming more frequent and less predictable. There was Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Hurricane Ida in 2021, and Hurricane Beryl in 2024.

In 2019, WRF, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, and the Water Utility Climate Alliance held a collaborative utility workshop on climate resilient planning. Participants from utilities and municipalities came to the following consensus as a collective workgroup…

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A holistic approach to flood mitigation planning and modeling is needed to balance competing management objectives while minimizing system vulnerabilities.”

Harry Zhang, PhD, PE