Speaker: Dr. Katy Serafin
Assistant Professor
Department of Geography
University of Florida
Thursday, October 20, 2022
4:00-4:50 PM (Period 9)
Turlington Hall 3018 and Zoom
University of Florida
Abstract: Communities across the nation are deciding how to best prepare for future flood events, while concurrently considering updates to aging infrastructure such as bridges. This study uses the San Francisquito Creek in California to show how existing and planned infrastructure modifications alter flood risk along the river and to quantify where flood risk is likely to increase as the climate continues to change. We find that the infrastructure updates act as they are intended to, removing flooding upstream and decreasing how likely it is to flood along river, benefiting the entire river system. However, we also show that the remaining flood risk is transferred to lower income communities downstream. While we focus on the San Francisquito Creek, our study holds valuable lessons for the management of other urban rivers that could help identify potential unintended consequences at early stages of planning.
All are welcome to attend.
For more information, email Dr. Jane Southworth at jsouthwo@ufl.edu