D.C. Pursues Ambitious Flood Resiliency Plan

In the face of rising sea levels, structures near source water bodies are increasingly under threat of flood damage. Now, an ambitious plan in Washington, D.C. will be the first of its kind to take major steps to protect against that danger.

“Washington is announcing a goal of retrofitting or removing all of its flood-prone buildings by 2050, the first major U.S. city to set such a policy,” Bloomberg reported. “The proposal is part of a broader plan to protect Washington, which is home to 700,000 people and the headquarters of most federal agencies, from climate change and other threats.”

The plan, “Resilient DC,” includes a mix of regulatory, outreach, and incentive efforts to protect the city’s buildings, which stand near the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.

“The plan includes tougher building codes for new buildings, constructing flood-resistant infrastructure and helping residents understand the climate risk they face,” per the Bloomberg report. “But retrofitting or moving the structures that already exist in flood plains may be the plan’s most aggressive proposal, measured by the cost and amount of change it could entail.”

While neither a specific cost for implementing the project nor a source of funds have been determined, the changing climate has made it clear to D.C. officials that such a bold change is needed.

By 2080, the sea levels on the Potomac and Anacostia will be more than three feet higher than they are now, there will be twice as many heat emergency days as there were last year, and so-called “hundred-year” storms will occur every 20 years, according to WAMU.

“[D.C. Chief Resilience Officer Kevin] Bush likens this [plan] to the way cities in California are dealing with earthquake risk,” per WAMU. “If we know now how much sea level will rise in the future, we can catalog which buildings will be frequently flooded.”

D.C. will also be using flood modeling software, at a projected cost of $5.7 million over four years, to determine current and future flood risk.

Potential obstacles in the plan, in addition to the cost of moving and retrofitting the existing buildings, will be the variety of federal buildings with special regulations that need to be included and the search for new homes for those whose residencies cannot be affordably retrofitted.

But as D.C. works through these problems and progresses toward its 2050 goal, it may establish a model that other cities around the world will replicate.

To read more about how municipalities prepare against floods, visit Water Online’s Resiliency Solutions Center.