Adaptation Strategies and Actions
Manage floodwater: Create a floodable park or open space
Manage floodwater: Designing With Water
Management of floodwater in an urban or suburban area has a lot to do with the amount of permeable land that is available for water to move to, stay on, and percolate through. Improvement of the amount or function of permeable land in a built environment will reduce flood impacts. This strategy is also known as Designing With Water.
Action
Create a floodable park or open space
Parklands, playgrounds, and urban open spaces can be designed specifically to accept excess rainwater (“sheet flow” that moves across the ground). The water can percolate through the open space and into aquifers, providing aquifer recharge and reducing the flow of stormwater to sewer systems. After a heavy rain, the open space may be flooded and not usable by people. But, after the water subsides, the area will again be usable as parkland for people and wildlife. Landscape architects should consider flooding in their design of the open space so that they build in specifications for flood-tolerant plants, look at the flow of water and enable stormwater to flow to the parkland, and design the area with some elevation change so that the water retention areas are lower in elevation.