Dutch Flood Policy Innovations for California

Levee Decisions and Sustainability for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

“…This presents a dilemma for the decision-maker because the value of his or her investment is in part a function of an uncertain future. Decision analysis provides a logical framework for cost-benefit comparisons of decisions options with uncertainty about their outcomes (Hobbs and others 1997;Cheng and others 2008;Lund 2009). All decision analyses require a probability model and a "value" model (Maguire 2004).…”

“…Decision analysis is broadly used as a tool for public policy makers, both as a way to understand, organize, and quantify a problem, and as a way to compare the costs and benefits of various strategies. Decision analysis is valuable because it forces the decision maker to articulate how various parameters interact with each other, and identify a realistic and holistic set of alternatives (Hobbs and others 1997;Cheng and others 2008;Lund 2009). …”

Flood Management in California

“…Bypasses have been very successful for both systems, however the shorter duration of floods in California give reservoirs a greater role in reducing peak flows. In the Netherlands, where major river floods also tend to have long durations, upstream reservoirs, largely outside of Dutch territory, are not of major importance, and dikes, levees, and bypasses are important [23]. In China, historical floods arguably shaped early Chinese civilization, but are now largely managed, in most years, with a system of levees, reservoirs, and retention areas.…”

“…Operations and maintenance is largely left to local and state agencies. Flood damages are almost non-existent in the Netherlands, due to their much higher economically-designed risk safety standards (up to one in 10,000 years for urban areas) [23]. Flood damages on the Mississippi River system are largely paid by land users through flood insurance and uncompensated damages.…”