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Flood Protection Ecosystem Services in the Coast of Puerto Rico: Associations Between Watershed Processes and Local Human Health and Well Being Indicators
Citation:
DeJesus-Crespo, R., J. Wu, M. Myer, R. Fulford, AND S. Yee. Flood Protection Ecosystem Services in the Coast of Puerto Rico: Associations Between Watershed Processes and Local Human Health and Well Being Indicators. Society for Freshwater Science, Detroit, Michigan, May 20 - 24, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Ecosystem goods and services (EGS) have been suggested as a strategy to protect coastal communities from flood hazards. However, the effectiveness of flood protection EGS at ameliorating the impact of flood events on human health and wellbeing remain under studied. This study evaluated the relationship between flood protection EGS and indicators of flood impact, such as FEMA flood claims and Medicare claims of illnesses associated to flooding (i.e. Gastro Intestinal disease). We conducted model averaging procedures and spatio-temporal modelling to detect the best variables explaining our flood response and disease trend indicators over a 15-year period (1999-2014), accounting for a variety of socio-economic co-variates. Our results suggest that rainfall extremes are associated to flood impact and Gastro Intestinal disease occurrence, and that landscape features such as sewage infrastructure and natural infiltration can help protect against these hazards. The benefits of natural infiltration weaken as the amount of people living in flood zones increases. These results highlight the risks associated to residential development in flood prone areas, and helps better understand the capabilities of natural and built infrastructure at ameliorating these risks. Our findings help guide development of planning strategies for future extreme weather events in coastal environments and the use of EGS for flood protection purposes.
Description:
Flood events are becoming increasingly important in coastal cities due to a projected increase in the frequency of extreme weather events. A potential strategy to promote coastal protection from these hazards is the use of green infrastructure to provide flood protection ecosystem goods and services (EGS). The effectiveness of flood protection EGS at ameliorating the impact of flood events on human health and wellbeing remain under studied. Here we explore the relationship between flood protection EGS and indicators of flood hazards, such as reported flood events, and FEMA flood claims, in coastal zip codes of Puerto Rico. We also assess zip-code level Medicare Claims of illnesses that have been previously associated to flood events, and whether watershed scale flood protection EGS are capable of ameliorating their occurrence. We conducted model averaging procedures to detect the best variables explaining our flood response and disease trend indicators, accounting for a variety of socio-economic and environmental co-variates. Our results inform the development of planning strategies for future weather hazards, accounting for watershed scale processes, and the role of green infrastructure at minimizing the risks associated to residential development on flood prone areas.