Reducing the costs and impacts of flooding

While spring brings welcomed sunshine and warmer temperatures to Pennsylvania, it also brings the threat of floods due to snow melt, heavy rains and the start of hurricane season. Pennsylvania’s ability to prepare for future flooding is directly related to enacting federal flood resilience and mitigation policies that ensure our communities and the critical infrastructure upon which they rely can weather future floods.

In recent years, communities all across Pennsylvania witnessed unprecedented flooding events. The growing need to address this problem stems from outdated land-use policies that encourage putting more people and assets in high-risk areas, such as waterfront properties. Unfortunately, the nation’s — and state’s — infrastructure wasn’t built to withstand the magnitude and frequency of disasters we’re experiencing today.

A big opportunity is on the horizon as Congress talks more seriously about crafting a federal infrastructure bill. It’s important for our elected leaders to take a deliberate approach to reducing the costs and impacts of flooding on transportation networks by incorporating resilience measures throughout. For example, creating a well-funded pre-disaster mitigation program that would promote the use of natural infrastructure or utilize protective features to reduce flood impacts is simply smart policy.

As a certified floodplain manager, and on behalf of the Pennsylvania Association of Floodplain Managers’ Board, we urge Congress to ensure that resilience and pre-disaster mitigation is top of mind when designing a comprehensive infrastructure bill. The health, safety and longterm viability of our communities depends upon it. JOSH LIPPERT Co-chair Pennsylvania Association of Floodplain Managers Philadelphia, Pa.