Evaluating Flood Risk Reduction by Urban Blue-Green Infrastructure Using Insurance Data
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 145, Issue 2
Abstract
One of many important features of blue-green infrastructure is the ability to lower flood risks by detention of stormwater. This ability of flood risk reduction has for the first time been evaluated with empirical data in this study. In 2014, Malmö, Sweden, was hit with extreme precipitation corresponding to a return period of 50–200 years that led to severe pluvial flooding. This and other large events presented the opportunity to evaluate the efficiency of the 15-year-old stormwater system retrofit in the Augustenborg area (30 ha). Blue-green infrastructure is widely promoted for climate change adaptation, making this unique case important in the discussion of the capabilities of the related technical solutions. The long-term trends showed less flood damage in Augustenborg than in similar neighborhoods that have conventional sewer systems (combined or separate), indicating a direct effect of the retrofit with stormwater control measures. Even though a few properties were flooded in Augustenborg, it was shown that the retrofitted stormwater system performed successfully during the extreme event in 2014.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Helén Nilsson from the insurance company Länsförsäkringar Skåne and Stefan Milotti from the utility company VA Syd for flood claim data. Susanne Steen Kronborg and Tomas Wolf from VA Syd are thanked for valuable data about the Malmö drainage system, rainfall data, etc. Cooperation with Länsförsäkringar Skåne was originally established by Joanna Theland during her master’s thesis and she collected data from several companies and organizations that were used in this study together with complementary flood claim data received later. Thanks also to Malmö municipal housing company (MKB), Lifra (property manager), IF Skadeförsäkring (insurance company), Moderna Försäkringar (insurance company), and Stadsfastigheter (property manager for Malmö City) for data. Lars Bengtsson and Rolf Larsson are thanked for their valuable comments to the manuscript, and Cintia Uvo are thanked for help with the statistical analysis. We would also like to thank Čedo Maksimovic at Imperial College London for the idea of assessing how Augustenborg was affected during the 2014 flood event. The criticisms from the anonymous reviewer helped in improving the paper. GIS data on urban areas, streets, etc. were distributed by the Swedish national mapping, cadastral, land registration authority: © Lantmäteriet, Dnr: I2014/00579. This study was supported by a grant from Formas, No. 942-2015-149 (Sustainable Urban Flood Management) and a Vinnova project, No. 2016-04254 (Testbädd för grönblå urbana lösningar).
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Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 145 • Issue 2 • February 2019
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 29, 2017
Accepted: Aug 20, 2018
Published online: Dec 14, 2018
Published in print: Feb 1, 2019
Discussion open until: May 14, 2019
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