This commentary is by Jesse Gourevitch, Mike Kline, Lauren Oates and Beverley Wemple. Gourevitch is a postdoctoral fellow at the Environmental Defense Fund based in Burlington; Kline is a river scientist consulting on river and floodplain restoration and protection, and is former state rivers program manager; Oates is director of policy & government relations at the Nature Conservancy in Vermont and a member of the Vermont Climate Council; Wemple is a professor of geography and deosciences at the University of Vermont.
Vermont’s recent record-breaking flooding underscores the urgency to address increasing weather-related risks associated with climate change. And unfortunately, there’s no easy, “one-size-fits-all” fix.
Our picturesque landscapes, ranging from green mountains to bucolic streams to miles and miles of dirt roads, present unique challenges. Moving forward, it is essential that leaders tailor solutions to the region’s landscape, natural history, existing infrastructure and climate future.
The causes and consequences of flooding in Vermont, as well as other rural mountainous regions, are different from coastal areas that we typically associate with extensive and more frequent flood damage. Instead of sea-level rise and coastal storm surge, our communities are vulnerable to damages from riverine flooding that occurs from the overflow of high waters, riverbank erosion, and landslides.
After Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont in 2011, the state implemented new rules and programs to minimize our collective vulnerability to extreme flood events. One such effort was the mapping of the state’s river corridors, which are used to identify erosion hazard areas for streams and rivers and to better inform local, regional and state-based planning and development efforts.
These maps have also been used to establish River Corridor Rules and Protection Procedures. Coupled with incentives for municipalities to adopt more protective bylaws, these new rules have proven effective at reducing exposure to flood risk.
Increased technical assistance to municipalities and new state rules have also improved river management before and after floods, including right-sizing culverts and bridges when they are replaced. A decades-long commitment to understanding riverine processes and the need to give rivers space to adjust to flooding is also contributing to new policies and decision support tools, including the important Functioning Floodplains Initiative.
We should be proud of these efforts to build resilience and increase public engagement in preparing for future floods. Yet, armed with the knowledge of experience and climate models that predict more severe and frequent flooding, we must do more to adapt to future risks.
Over the past century, three-quarters of Vermont’s rivers and streams have become disconnected from their floodplains due to river manipulation efforts such as dredging, armoring and straightening — resulting in steeper, deeper rivers.
Although these efforts were intended to protect human development from naturally meandering rivers and flooding, they have instead increased streambank erosion and exacerbated downstream damages. Reconnecting our rivers and streams with their historic, adjacent floodplains and allowing them to meander and release their energy safely are essential strategies for reducing flood-related damages.
There is also a growing need for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve its Flood Insurance Rate Maps to reflect all properties exposed to flood risk, as many of Vermont’s current inundation maps are out of date and do not capture flood risk along smaller rivers and streams. Consequently, many properties exposed to flood risk may not be built to the same standards as newer structures within FEMA-mapped flood zones and are thus more vulnerable to flood damage.
These inadequacies in flood mapping leave many Vermonters uninsured or underinsured from flood damages.
At present, there are approximately 3,100 FEMA flood insurance policies in force in Vermont, down from 4,400 ten years ago. Yet, First Street Foundation, a climate risk analytics provider, estimates that 40,000 properties in Vermont have at least a 1% annual probability of flooding. And as the average cost of a flood insurance policy in Vermont increases from $1,200 to $2,200 under FEMA’s new pricing methodology, insurance uptake is expected to decrease further.
With individual assistance grants from FEMA typically averaging less than $8,000 per household, this lack of coverage will severely impair financial recovery for impacted Vermonters following future floods.
FEMA is currently updating its Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Vermont, which are expected to become effective as soon as 2025. While these updates cannot come soon enough, particularly for towns where these maps have not been updated since the 1970s or ’80s, they may require municipalities to update their bylaws to conform with National Flood Insurance Program requirements. These bylaw updates take time and the process of doing so is best started as early as possible.
In addition, we urge policymakers to better protect our communities by passing legislation that prevents further development in river corridors.
Because flood damages are more frequent and severe in these areas, we must correct past development patterns in order to spare future generations from harm. By adopting statewide river corridor protections, lawmakers can reduce the current permitting and zoning administrative burden on already under-resourced municipalities, decrease future damages and their associated costs to Vermont taxpayers, and improve public safety.
We also recommend that the state implement statutory flood-risk disclosure requirements during real estate transactions, similar to recent action taken in New York and New Jersey. At present, sellers are not required by law to specifically disclose a property’s flood risks or past flood damages to potential buyers, leaving Vermont homebuyers greatly disadvantaged when it comes to learning of a home’s past flood history or potential for future flooding.
As residents of Vermont, we want to see our communities build resilience and be better prepared to combat the state’s growing climate impacts. Let Vermont’s recent events serve as an opportunity to implement better flood management practices and policies that are tailored to the needs of our state and its communities.
