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Manage floodwater: Create a floodable park or open space

Adaptation Strategies and Actions

Manage floodwater: Create a floodable park or open space

Adaptation type: 
Low Impact Development and storm water management
Planning and prioritization
Recreation management and opportunties

Strategy:

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

Floodwater in Arrow Rock, Missouri. Photo credit: USFWS Midwest
Floodwater in Arrow Rock, Missouri. Photo credit: USFWS Midwest

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.

Scope and Constraints

Time: 
One-time action
Ongoing action
Immediate impact
Long-term impact
Cost: 
Lower cost category
Moderate cost category
Higher cost category
Funds available
Geographical: 
Parcel-scale
Town-scale
Jurisdictional: 
Municipal or county jurisdiction required
National jurisdiction required

Goals

National Fish Wildlife Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Goal 1: Conserve habitat, diversity, and connectivity
National Fish Wildlife Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Goal 2: Manage species, habitats, ecosystem functions
National Fish Wildlife Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Goal 3: Enhance capacity for management
National Fish Wildlife Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Goal 4: Adaptive management and monitoring
National Fish Wildlife Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy Goal 7: Reduce non-climate stressors

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