World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020
Urban Water Management and Mitigation Analysis in Response to Hydro-Climate Change and Regional Subsidence
Publication: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020: Groundwater, Sustainability, Hydro-Climate/Climate Change, and Environmental Engineering
ABSTRACT
More cities in the United States are identifying urban flooding as a frequent, destructive, and costly natural hazard affecting property, roadway, and other infrastructure while causing significant economic disruption, and negative consequences to human health and safety. In addition to rainfall during major hurricane and tropical storm events, coastal cities like New Orleans and Houston are vulnerable against high intensity short-duration rainfall events. Located below sea level and subjected to regional ground subsidence, New Orleans relies on their pumps and canals to handle one inch of rain the first hour, half-an-inch every hour thereafter. Aging and poorly maintained infrastructure systems can increase the amount of storm runoff to an already strained drainage system, creating pockets of flooding in ill-equipped and vulnerable neighborhoods. Using existing elevation certificates, BFE, regional subsidence rate, and inundation statistics from recent flooding events, this paper evaluates effects of subsidence on property elevation and long-term repetitive loss potential of the structures. An estimated yearly ground subsidence rate of 9 mm/year increased flooding potential from 30% to 42% for the properties evaluated.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2020: Groundwater, Sustainability, Hydro-Climate/Climate Change, and Environmental Engineering
Pages: 258 - 268
Editors: Sajjad Ahmad, Ph.D., and Regan Murray, Ph.D.
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8296-4
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: May 14, 2020
Published in print: May 14, 2020
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