Sustainable Flood Risk Management

The author presented a paper at the Environment and Water Resources (EWRI) Congress, held in Tampa FL in May 2007 entitled "Is the Current Approach to Managing Flood Threats in the United States Sustainable?" The paper, subsequently adapted as the article "In Harm's Way" was published in the ASCE Civil Engineering magazine (Davis, 2007). The paper reviewed the practice and status of flood risk management in the United States at the Federal, state, local, and private sector levels. The conclusion was that the (circa 2006) approach was not sustainable. Recommendations were made that would hopefully move these activities toward sustainability. (Readers of this paper are encouraged to first read the 2007 paper.) Since then, major floods have occurred, national studies completed, and activities initiated that address some of the key issues. Of these, selected actions are summarized and compared with the recommendations made in the May 2007 paper. Significant progress has been achieved in several important areas, but a number of key actions remain to be accomplished that would enable the United States to move more quickly and surely to sustainable flood risk management in the nation.