Dive Brief:
- Flooding costs the U.S. between about $180 billion and $496 billion each year, according to a June 10 report from U.S. Joint Economic Committee Democrats.
- The report calls for continued federal investment in “cost-effective” flood resilience strategies, specifically pointing to nature-based solutions like coastal wetlands and mangroves.
- The lawmakers urged more funding for a federal grant program they describe as very popular and always oversubscribed: the Natural Resources Conservation Service Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Program, which helps states, local governments and tribes pursue watershed projects.
Dive Insight:
The price tag of floods is skyrocketing for the U.S. government as climate change brings sea-level rise and more intense, frequent storms. The National Flood Insurance Program paid 660% more in flood insurance claims between 2000 and 2020 than in the two decades prior, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The JEC Democrats’ analysis looked at flood-related costs such as damages to homes, transit infrastructure and businesses as well as loss of business due to flood impacts, increases in insurance premiums and loss of healthy ecosystems that benefit communities.
JEC Chairman and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., said in a statement, “Communities in New Mexico and across the country feel the economic impacts of flooding directly. This report helps quantify the magnitude of that impact and the urgent need for climate mitigation and resilience efforts to help reduce it.”
The report acknowledges that its methodology may have resulted in some double-counting of costs across categories. However, it also says its estimates still likely undercount the actual cost of flooding. That’s because researchers have not fully quantified the extent of certain flood-related damages, like injuries, loss of tourism, mental health impacts experienced by those displaced, cultural heritage damage and water contamination.
The report argues that money invested in flood protection measures pays communities back many times over. It says every dollar invested in flood protection saves up to $318 in damages, while every dollar spent to restore wetlands and reefs saves $7 in flood reduction benefits.
