The development of flood risk management in the United States

Abstract

Delta regions have always been prone to flooding disasters. To provide protection, welfare state governments have built floodwalls and levees to keep people safe. However, the feasibility of this approach is now being questioned. Can these infrastructural measures accommodate changing floods risks? In many delta countries, governments are embracing “flood risk management” (FRM) as an alternative approach. In FRM, the focus lies on reducing human vulnerabilities to flood risks instead of preventing floods to occur. Based on a case study of the development of FRM in the United States – the country where the approach originated – this paper demonstrates that FRM relies on a value system with underlying divisions of responsibilities, costs and information requirements that significantly differs from traditional welfare state approaches to flood governance. It argues that these systemic features need to be taken into account in the transfer of FRM to welfare state contexts.