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Floodplain zoning: Implications of hydrologic and legal uncertainty
Author(s) -
Dingman S. Lawrence,
Platt Rutherford H.
Publication year - 1977
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/wr013i003p00519
Subject(s) - floodplain , flood myth , zoning , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental planning , property (philosophy) , environmental science , environmental resource management , computer science , water resource management , civil engineering , geography , engineering , geotechnical engineering , archaeology , cartography , philosophy , epistemology
Implementation of floodplain regulations in the United States has been very slow. There is a danger that regulation will not be widely adopted before floodplains become largely developed. Important among the reasons for failure to regulate floodplains appear to be the misconceptions that precise floodplain delineation is (1) hydrologically possible and (2) legally required. Our analysis shows that wide confidence intervals are unavoidably associated with even the most elaborate and expensive delineation techniques. Application of the ‘fairly debatable rule’ legally supports regulation based on expedient techniques, as long as they are fairly applied, and issues of constitutional purpose and taking of property are properly considered. Thus there is hydrologic and legal justification for floodplain regulation based on expedient delineation methods, and it is imperative that such methods be used if regulation is to be an effective tool for flood damage reduction.