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Economic analysis of alternative flood control measures
Author(s) -
James L. Douglas
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr003i002p00333
Subject(s) - flood myth , flood control , channel (broadcasting) , floodplain , land use , population , environmental science , hydrology (agriculture) , civil engineering , computer science , geography , engineering , cartography , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , computer network , demography , sociology
A digital computer program was developed for determining the optimum combination of structural and nonstructural measures for flood control according to the criterion of economic efficiency. The program may be readily applied by any agency interested in analyzing the relative merits of structural and nonstructural measures or in more rapid economic analysis of alternative channel improvement designs. It selects the optimum combination of channel improvement, flood proofing, and land use control for each portion of the flood plain during planning stages of specified duration. The program was used to relate the optimum combination of the three measures to specific flood‐plain properties. Finally, the sensitivity of the nature and the total cost of the optimum program was related for various flood‐plain conditions to variation in cost of channel improvement, cost of land use control, cost of flood proofing, right‐of‐way value, value of the coefficient relating flood damage to flood severity, value of open space preserved in an urban area, extent of aversion to irregular timing of flood damage, discount rate, population projections, and the exclusion of alternative combinations. (Key words: Flood control; flood plains; flood proofing; land use control)