Houston Chronicle by R.A. Schuetz Dec. 18, 2019
Report urges buying floodplain properties to head off $3 billion bill by 2050
It would be less expensive for the government to buy and preserve undeveloped land that lies in Houston’s floodplains than it would be to let development occur and face a potentially devastating bill if those properties flood, according to a new study.
Allowing development on these sites could expose Harris County to as much as $3 billion in damages by 2050, according the report, published in the journal Nature Sustainability. The magnitude of potential damages far outstrips the $400 million researchers estimated it would take to acquire the land and prevent its development.
“Are there places where flood risk is high, but people are not yet there?†he asked. “But according to Census projections, those are the areas where people are likely to move because the population is growing? And what if we don’t develop there?â€
The analysis — carried out by members of the environmental organization Nature Conservancy, the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, British hydrologic modeling company Fathom and the Federal Housing Finance Agency — suggested buying land may not make sense in places with low population growth. But near cities like Houston, where the demands of a growing population may encourage residents to take on the risks of living in a floodplain, it could save money in the long run.
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Report-urges-buying-floodplain-properties-to-head-14915628.php
