Researchers in Washington are working to find nature-based and community-centered solutions to prevent flooding and improve livability in flood-prone areas across the state.

After the South Park neighborhood in Seattle experienced an unprecedented flood in 2022 along the Duwamish River, scientists joined forces with a local nonprofit to explore flood-adaptation strategies through the Living With Water Project.

Researcher B.J. Cummings, a special-projects advisor for the Center for Disaster Resilient Communities at the University of Washington, said this is a chance to try out cutting-edge nature-based solutions to flooding that also benefit the community.

"As devastating as that experience was," she said, "it's a really terrific opportunity to do a demonstration of what this could look like and then actually measure the health benefits, the economic benefits, the environmental benefits that we get out of that project."

The Washington Department of Ecology has said climate change is increasing the risk of flooding across the state, and floods cost the state more than any other natural disaster. Researchers found strategies such as restoring floodplains and building wetlands could be more cost effective and were preferred by the community compared with hard infrastructure such as seawalls.

Cummings said the research is built on a review of the scientific literature and community interviews about their values and priorities, and she believes centering local leadership is the best way to ensure solutions are effective. It's practical, she noted, because it's easier to get funding from local governments with community backing.

She added that solutions might also cause unintended harm. For example, she said in this case, some people may choose to move to avoid future floods.

"But if you simply move people out of the floodplain without them leading what that looks like, uou might break that community cohesion," she said, "that is one of the key strengths of this community."

Source: Public News Service