Publications
Assessing Flood Plain Risk with GIS: Pilot Project Helps Rural Communities Tackle Growth Issues
Author(s): RGIS Great Plains
RGIS Regional Office: Great Plains, University of North Dakota
Date of Publication: February 2007
Synopsis:
Over the past decade, eastern North Dakota has experienced a number of damaging floods. The summer of 2000 brought especially heavy precipitation that resulted in flood damage to local transportation routes, building infrastructure, and state park lands. With an emerging pattern of heavy rain events in the region, small communities are attempting to devise growth plans that take into account risks associated with flooding. Researchers at RGIS–Great Plains have devised a project that uses GIS modeling in combination with climatic and hydrologic data to simulate land-use change and hydrologic response. The goal is to provide a relatively easy, cost-effective means for rural communities to assess flood risk in developing areas.