Eve Gruntfest
Abstract
Floods in the United States cause more damage than any other natural hazard. Despite enormous federal expenditures for flood control, flood losses continue to rise. In particular, urban flood damages are rising rapidly and the trend is to expected to continue.
In 1958 a Chicago research team published an assessment of changes in urban flood plain land use in 17 American cities. Their 22 year study period began in 1936, the year of the first national flood control legislation. Their findings showed growth in the number of flood plain structures and a heavy reliance on structural flood control measures.
The current study examines the impact of flood plain management policies from 1958 to 1979 in two of the American cities which were studied earlier: Denver and Boulder, Colorado. The assessment in the two cities is composed of a summary of local flood events and legislative policy, a look at the change in the number and types of flood plain structures, and an examination of the choice and cost of structural and nonstructural flood hazard adjustments.
Results show (1) increased flood plain encroachment along both the South Platte River and Boulder Creek flood plains; (2) a wide variety of structural and nonstructural adjustments in both cities; and, (3) public expenditures for structural flood control measures have clearly exceeded those applied to nonstructural measures in Denver. In Boulder structural and nonstructural expenditures are at the same level.
Ph.D. in Geography
University of Colorado Boulder
1981
