Toward More Actionable Flood-Risk Information

Abstract

The increasingly urgent need to develop knowledge and practices to manage flood risks drives innovative information design. However, experts often disagree about design practices. As a result, flood-risk estimates can diverge, leading to different conclusions for decision-making. Using examples of household-scale fluvial (riverine) flood-risk information in the United States, we assess design features and risk communication approaches that may lead to more actionable information for decision-making. We argue that increased attention to uncertainty characterization and model diagnostics is a critical intermediate step for developing simpler approaches for designing flood-risk information. Simpler frameworks are desirable because flood risks change over time, and simpler frameworks are less costly to update. Developing frameworks for large spatial domains require collaboration grounded in principles of open science. Finally, systematically evaluating how decision-makers access and use information can provide new insights to guide risk communication and information design.