North Carolina Is Building an Online Tool to Quantify Outcomes of Flood Projects

The tool will allow local planners to evaluate impacts of flooding and prioritize projects with the biggest return on investment.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is developing a new online tool to help inform future flood planning. The “Flood Resiliency Blueprint” will compile research and data about flooding in the state to provide a framework that local officials can use to guide adaptation and mitigation efforts, says a Governing article by Adam Wagner.

In the face of more frequent, intensifying rain events, the goal is to help local governments more easily identify projects that will have measurable outcomes for their communities so they can take swift action. “Officials will be able to home in on the area where the project is proposed and see exactly how many people, homes, roads and community assets the project will protect,” Wagner writes.

The tool is designed so anyone can use it and will use two-dimensional modeling that allows planners to evaluate the impacts of flooding from rivers and heavy rain events. “To make sure we know what the projects with the best return on investment are, we are developing a standardized methodology to analyze flood risk and prioritize flood mitigation strategies across the state. We are ensuring that decision makers at all levels will be able to identify and select which strategies are most impactful where they are,” DEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser told Governing. 

The North Carolina legislature allocated a total of $20 million for the project, which includes developing and building the flood blueprint tool, as well as six river basin-specific action strategies. Another $96 million has been allocated to fund the construction of projects identified in those river-basin planning documents.

Some state legislators expressed concerns that the blueprint would be used by DEQ to tell local governments which actions they can and cannot take. Biser assured them that, apart from how the $96 million is spent, the state will not be the decision-making entity on local projects.

Beta testing for the tool is slated for mid-April and launch is expected in December.