Last week, the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed by Dr. Brett Sanders, a leading UC Irvine Blum Center expert on flooding. Along with his co author, Public Policy Institute fellow Jeffrey Mount, Sanders emphasizes the critical need to improve flood management in California.
Citing research conducted at UCI, the piece draws attention to factors which will increase the risk of floods and flood damage in the not so distant future, including aging or inadequate flood infrastructure and climate change driven changes to the water cycle. The piece also emphasizes a social justice element to better flood preparedness, citing that the most vulnerable communities are disproportionately low-income without resources for protection or recovery.
Sanders and Mount call for more accurate identification of risks through improved incorporation of climate change data, for renewed and continued financial investment by the state of California in infrastructure improvement, and, importantly, they encourage the integration of flood and drought management strategies in a state prone to the extremes.
Read the full article here.