How urban infrastructure and development affect flows and floods
Project Overview
Current research efforts seek to better understand the interactions between flood flows and urban channels, floodplains and riparian zones as influenced by urban infrastructure and efforts to mitigate impacts of urban development, green infrastructure (GI), low impact development (LID), and sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) on flood response and other environmental consequences.
Research Questions:
- How does the efficacy of floodplain vs. upland GI for mitigating flood risks vary among regions?
- In what ways does sensitivity of flood risks to prospective solutions vary across regions?
- How do interactions among climate, land use, physiography and GI/LID produce threshold behavior in flood hazards and risks?
lead researcher
Brian Bledsoe, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor, College of Engineering
bbledsoe@uga.edu
Develop a flood hydraulic model to generate flood hazard maps that provide a means for comparative analysis among competing mitigation and hydro-meteorological scenarios while explicitly communicating the uncertainty associated with flood hazard mapping. These results can be used by the broader community to guide individual homeowner and management decisions regarding future development, mitigation strategies, and risk assessment. This project is hosted online by the Urban Watershed Information Network (UWIN).
partners
Tim Stephens, University of Georgia
Andrew Miller and Gina Lee, University of Maryland
Many municipal partners:
- Tucson, AZ
- Charlotte, NC
- Athens-Clarke County, GA
- Baltimore, MD
- Denver, CO
