Towards the development of a comprehensive systematic quantification of the costs and benefits of property level flood risk adaptation

Abstract

Research in the UK, has shown that one of the reasons that people may not take action to guard against potential flood damage to their properties is that they lack first-hand information on the costs and benefits of available mitigation measures. From these perspective, fundamental issues of both universal and constraint uncertainties in property-level flood adaptation cost benefit analysis are discussed. Individuals who have direct knowledge of the potential flood risks that they are exposed to and subsequently have information on the costs and benefits of adapting their properties to flood risks, would be more likely to take action, and thus more inclined to undertake mitigation measures. The application of the concept of cost benefit analysis to flood mitigation measures at household levels has inherent uncertainties. A major exclusion in the past from flood mitigation cost benefit analyses has been the intangible impacts of flooding upon households, and this represents a form of systemic uncertainty. Research has shown that intangible impacts are both large and more important to affected households than are the tangible impacts; therefore quantification of the intangible impacts of flooding, for the purpose of developing a comprehensive cost benefit analysis model, is of a paramount importance in assessing the full impact of flooding on households, and hence currently represent a form of systematic uncertainty. The challenge of this research is how to quantify intangible impact/losses in the context of the cost benefit analysis approach. A proposal for addressing this challenge is presented which could help homeowners living in flood risk areas in the UK to make an informed decision on investment in flood mitigating measures. © 2012 WIT Press.