Out-of-Date Data May Contribute to Future Flooding in the U.S.
By Adam Dove
Media Inquiries- College of Engineering
A recent study by Costa Samaras, energy fellow at the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Ph.D. student Tania Lopez-Cantu indicates that out-of-date precipitation data used by state Department of Transportation offices may be increasing the risk of flooding by not providing sufficient information to design and build adequate stormwater infrastructure.
Published in Environmental Research Letters, Samaras and Lopez-Cantu reviewed the state DOT design manuals of the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. DOTs use these manuals to guide infrastructure planning and construction including sewer lines and curbside grates. But according to this research, some of these manuals are based on out-of-date precipitation data, and none directly account for future climate change, which could spell trouble for many state residents.