Among the many ways that marginalized groups and the areas where they live are at a disadvantage are natural disasters. Such communities are disproportionately exposed to flooding and the harm and fatalities that often result. As climate change increases the severity and frequency of flooding across the U.S., Massachusetts and other parts of New England face their own challenges. Disadvantaged communities in Massachusetts are poorly documented in flood risk assessments, with noncoastal cities undercounted and misrepresented, making it difficult to plan for and protect against flooding in vulnerable areas. Without accurate representation in data and planning processes, this population will stay at a heightened risk.
In a new study, “Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Flood Risk in Massachusetts Environmental Justice Communities,” authors Cielo A. Sharkus, Jennifer E. Givens, Sheila M. Saia, James Knighton, Eve Vogel, Seda Şalap-Ayça, Christine E. Hatch, and Christian D. Guzman used modeling to explore how socioeconomics and demographics relate to flood risk. Their study provides insights that can support the development of more equitable strategies for flood hazard reduction and explores how and why marginalized communities are affected more negatively than nonmarginalized ones. Learn more about this study in the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management and the steps engineers can take to ensure underserved communities are protected at https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-6482. The abstract is below.
Abstract
During the past decade, changing population dynamics in Massachusetts raised concerns about inequitable exposure to floods in historically underserved communities. To examine the interplay between socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and flood risk, we constructed spatially explicit geospatial models to assess the distribution of flood risk from 2010 to 2020 across the 351 municipalities and 4,985 census block groups using the Environmental Justice Index (EJI) developed by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. EJI uses individual categorical variables to describe eight different combinations of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, allowing for assessments through different types of models. We found an increasing presence by 69.9% of EJ communities residing in flood zones during the past decade. Specific combinations of socioeconomic indicators, such as minority status linked with limited English proficiency and low-income status, exhibit a statistically significant likelihood of residing in flood zones from 2010 to 2020, relative to non-EJ. Of these socioeconomic indicators, we note a 124.4% increase by area in minority status with limited English proficiency living in flood-prone block groups (3.8 km2 in 2020), a 79.6% increase by area for those with only minority status (92 km2 in 2020), and a 522.6% increase in low-income with limited English proficiency zones by area occurring in the flood-prone block group (0.07 km2 in 2020). Our findings demonstrate that racial and ethnic composition in addition to income inequality are correlated to flood exposure in Massachusetts at both the census block group and at the municipality level. Finer scale analysis revealed additional hotspots of flooding that are obscured at the municipality level. These results not only underscore the potential for harm with increasing intensity and magnitude of flooding in EJ communities but also demonstrate the need for disaster risk reduction to center racial and EJ in flood mitigation efforts. Our study may help inform equitable decision making and equitable adaptation planning under climate change at different spatial scales.
Explore more about ensuring equitable flood protection in historically underserved communities in the ASCE Library: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/JWRMD5.WRENG-6482.
