Season 5, Episode 5: Fragmentation, Flood Risk, and Rethinking How We Manage Water with Melissa Roberts
Melissa Roberts, Founder and Executive Director of the American Flood Coalition
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What are the challenges communities face when it comes to taking action against flooding?
On this episode of Audacious Water, Melissa Roberts joins John to talk about fragmentation, systemic challenges, and how water really flows. Melissa is the Founder and Executive Director of the American Flood Coalition, where she works with leaders across the country to create local solutions to flood management and pass legislation that helps further flood resilience.
Melissa and John discuss the importance of managing flood risk at scale, what that looks like for communities, and why fragmented water governance makes taking effective action so difficult, even when we know the risks. They also talk about how a new national water strategy could help bring these pieces together and move us toward more coordinated, forward-looking solutions.
“The latest figures after decades of research are that a dollar on the front end saves $13 on the back end. And you look at that and you go, wow, if I had a personal investment where I could invest a dollar and know that I’d get $13, that would be amazing. I would take that in a heartbeat.”
Key Topics
The Challenges Local Leaders Face When Trying to Act on Flood Risk: Melissa shares how many mayors and local officials understand flood risk is increasing but face barriers like fragmented funding, complex programs, and limited capacity that make action difficult.
Why Managing Water at the Watershed Level Matters More Than Political Boundaries: John and Melissa discuss why water must be managed according to how it actually moves rather than along city or state lines.
How a Systems Approach Helps Scale Solutions: Melissa explains how treating flooding as a systems problem makes it possible to scale solutions and unlock co-benefits like improved soil health, better water quality, and economic gains.
Why Preparedness Is Far Less Expensive Than Disaster Response: John and Melissa talk about why decades of research show investing upfront in preparedness costs far less than responding after disasters occur.
What Needs to Change at the State and Federal Level to Reduce Fragmentation: Melissa outlines how outdated laws, old flood maps, and a fragmented disaster system prevent communities from managing flood risk effectively.
Why Innovation Is Critical to Managing Future Flood Risk: Melissa describes why innovation, including better data, modeling, and computational tools, is essential as storms grow more intense and flood risks increase.
Links to Relevant Studies and Resources:
Read more about Melissa Roberts
Learn more about the American Flood Coalition and its work supporting local leaders on flood resilience
Explore watershed-scale flood modeling and research from the Iowa Flood Center that Melissa mentioned in the Cedar River example
Read about the farm pilot in the Cedar River Watershed Melissa mentioned
Read the report on the economic benefits of investing in climate resilience, including the $13-to-1 savings Melissa referenced
Review data on U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters since 1980 that John discusses
Learn more about the Florida Flood Hub, discussed as a state-level model for coordinating flood data and planning
Further reading
Read the National Water Strategy released by the Aspen Institute
Read the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on flood risk management and federal fragmentation
“I just can’t imagine we can have everything else that we want in this country - healthcare, education, vibrant communities - if we’re going keep paying for disasters in this incredibly expensive way that also doesn’t prevent any of the pain.”
Transcript
Coming soon.