Grant Logan Newell, Salehi Nafiseh, Shafiee-Jood Majid
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Virginia, 151 Engineer's Way, PO Box 400747, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Systems and Information Engineering, University of Virginia, 151 Engineer's Way, PO Box 400747, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2023 Nov 1;345:118484. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118484. Epub 2023 Aug 11.
Building flood resilience has become a priority in the United States as flood risks continue to rise. The National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System (CRS) serves as an excellent framework for local-level resilience planning by incentivizing a wide range of flood management practices. Despite the short-term and long-term benefits, resource barriers and limited technical capacity constrain communities' ability to participate in the program. In this study, we develop a GIS-based decision support tool to facilitate communities' participation in CRS. Specifically, we focus on Open Space Preservation (OSP) in the floodplain, a high credit earning CRS activity that is also promising in terms of flood protection. Most communities already preserve lands in the floodplain, indicating a missed opportunity for policyholders across the United States to receive financial benefit. Furthermore, OSP aligns with a growing national interest in the use of natural infrastructure for flood protection. Implementing OSP, however, requires extensive GIS analysis. Many communities lack the technical capacity needed to fulfill the program requirements. To address this challenge, the tool identifies areas that are already preserved and calculates credit estimates, providing communities with an indication of the financial benefit they are eligible to receive. In addition, the tool implements a novel methodology for mapping unprotected open space areas in the floodplain that could be eligible for CRS credit if preserved. These maps, along with estimates of future crediting scenarios, help communities pursue additional OSP credits through flood resilient land-use planning. The tool was applied to communities in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a case study. Statewide, over 39,000 unclaimed OSP credits were identified, suggesting an opportunity for significant expansion of the CRS in Virginia. Across the country, communities can use the GIS tool to perform the necessary GIS work more quickly and easily, engage with stakeholders, and make a strong financial argument for proactive flood management practices.
随着洪水风险持续上升，增强建筑的防洪能力已成为美国的一项优先任务。国家洪水保险计划的社区评级系统（CRS）通过激励广泛的洪水管理实践，为地方层面的抗灾能力规划提供了一个出色的框架。尽管有短期和长期效益，但资源障碍和有限的技术能力限制了社区参与该计划的能力。在本研究中，我们开发了一种基于地理信息系统（GIS）的决策支持工具，以促进社区参与CRS。具体而言，我们关注洪泛区的开放空间保护（OSP），这是一项在CRS中能获得高分的活动，在防洪方面也很有前景。大多数社区已经在洪泛区保护土地，这表明美国各地的投保人错失了获得经济利益的机会。此外，OSP符合国家对利用自然基础设施防洪的兴趣日益增长的趋势。然而，实施OSP需要广泛的GIS分析。许多社区缺乏满足该计划要求所需的技术能力。为应对这一挑战，该工具识别已受保护的区域并计算信用估计值，为社区提供其有资格获得的经济利益的指示。此外，该工具采用了一种新颖的方法来绘制洪泛区未受保护的开放空间区域，如果这些区域得到保护，可能符合CRS信用标准。这些地图以及未来信用情景的估计值，有助于社区通过具有防洪弹性的土地利用规划获取额外的OSP信用。该工具作为案例研究应用于弗吉尼亚联邦州的社区。在全州范围内，发现了超过39,000个未领取的OSP信用，这表明弗吉尼亚州有机会大幅扩展CRS。在全国范围内，社区可以使用该GIS工具更快速、轻松地进行必要的GIS工作，与利益相关者互动，并为积极的洪水管理实践提出有力的经济论据。
