No Adverse Impact: New Direction in Floodplain Management Policy

Abstract

Annual flood losses in the United States continue to worsen in spite of 75 years of federal flood control and 30 years of the National Flood Insurance Program. This trend is unnecessary and is due primarily to federal policies that have encouraged at-risk development, provided insufficient consideration for the impact of that development on other properties and on future flood and erosion potentials, justified flood-control projects based on a benefit-to-cost ratio that favors an intensification of land uses within the floodplain, and engendered an unhealthy reliance on federal resources by state and local governments. The writers propose a new “no adverse impact floodplain” approach that shifts the focus from the techniques and standards used for floodprone development to how adverse impacts resulting from those land use changes can be planned for and mitigated. The proposed policy promotes fairness, responsibility, community involvement and planning, sustainable development, and local land management, while not infringing on private property rights.