Father of Floodplain Management Said, “Build Away from Floodplains”

When rivers flood severely enough that there is loss of life, it’s not too long before emergency meetings are held to discuss new flood control measures. Often these measures include armoring riverbanks. Although a tragedy, the recent floods near Boulder, Colo. could have been worse.

Some of Boulder’s protection could be attributed to Gilbert White, the late University of Colorado professor known as the “father of flood plain management,” who believed that people should move structures out of flood-prone areas instead of relying on dams and levees. White advocated for adaptation to, or accommodation of, flood hazards rather than the “structural” solutions (dams, levees, and floodwalls, for example) that dominated policy in the early 20th century.

Dams, levees and floodwalls, developed by engineers, are designed to modify flooding hazards so that humans are protected and can continue to live in areas that are periodically subject to flooding (i.e. floodplains). White’s thought governing bodies (local, regional, or national) should restrict the use of floodplains. In his influential dissertation entitled “Human adjustment to floods,” published in 1945 by the University of Chicago Department of Geography, White argued that an over-reliance on structural works in the United States had actually increased damage by flooding, rather than decreasing them, and famously said, “Floods are an act of God, but flood losses are largely an act of man.”

Despite his many honors and accolades, including the National Medal of Science from the National Science Foundation (2000), during White’s lifetime, public confidence in structural works significantly increased building in floodplains.