New research from CSP Faculty Borja Reguero and graduate DE student Rae Taylor-Burns! Facing the storm: UC Santa Cruz researchers model a new line of coastal defense. Buffering aging levees with sloping wetlands reduces flood risk while establishing beneficial ecosystems.
Key takeaways
- Horizontal levees offer dual benefits: Retrofitting traditional levees with sloping, wetland-like “horizontal levees” can significantly improve coastal flood protection—by up to 30 percent—while also restoring ecosystems that support carbon sequestration, biodiversity, and recreation.
- Climate change is increasing flood risk: Rising sea levels and more intense storms are expected to make once-rare coastal flooding events in California far more frequent by mid-century, placing $250 billion in infrastructure at risk—especially in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Nature-based solutions are cost-effective and scalable: UC Santa Cruz and US Geological Survey researchers found that horizontal levees could be a more affordable alternative to raising traditional levees, using advanced modeling to demonstrate their viability as a climate adaptation strategy.
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