Skip to main content

From flood control to flood adaptation: a case study on the Lower Green River Valley and the City of Kent in King County, Washington

Natural Hazards volume 71, pages 723–750 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Despite massive investment in flood control infrastructure (FCI), neither cities nor rivers have been well served—flooding continues to challenge cities around the world, while riverine ecosystems are degraded by FCI. Although new flood hazard management concepts have shifted the focus away from FCI, many cities continue to count on FCI to prevent flood damage. It is assumed that existing built-up areas can only count on FCI, as large-scale retreat is often impossible. However, flood adaptation—retrofitting the built environment to prevent damage during flooding—as an option is often ignored. This paper argues against the continual use of FCI to prevent flood damage by reviewing FCI’s established problems. The paper examines human–river interactions associated with FCI, focusing on the feedback mechanisms in the interactions, with a case study on the Lower Green River (LGR) valley in King County, Washington, USA. An urban ecology research model is employed to organize the case study, where interactions between floodplain urbanization, FCI, flow and sediment changes, flood risk, and riverine ecosystem are explored and two feedback mechanisms—river adjustment and flood risk perception—are explicitly addressed. The resulting complex dynamics, in terms of cross–scale interactions, emergence, nonlinearity, and surprises, are synthesized and limitations of FCI outlined. Flood adaptation is explored as a plausible alternative to flood control to nurture flood resilience. A management scenario of flood adaptation for the City of Kent—the largest municipality in the LGR valley—is developed to discuss the implications of flood adaptation on flood risk and river restoration.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

References

  • Abbe TS, Montgomery DR (1996) Large woody debris jams, channel hydraulics and habitat formation in large rivers. Regul Rivers Res Manag 12(2–3):201–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adger WN, Hughes TP, Folke C, Carpenter SR, Rockström J (2005) Social-ecological resilience to coastal disasters. Science 309:1036–1039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alberti M, Marzluff JM, Shulenberger E, Bradley G, Ryan C, Zumbrunnen C (2003) Integrating humans into ecology: opportunities and challenges for studying urban ecosystems. Bioscience 53(12):1169–1179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anchor Environmental (2004) Lower Green River baseline habitat survey report. Prepared for WRIA 9 Technical Committee and King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Water and land Resources Division

  • Anderson M, Walling DR, Bates P (eds) (1996) Floodplain processes. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashley ST, Ashley WS (2008) Flood fatalities in the United States. J Appl Meteorol Climatol 47:805–818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ashley R, Blanksby J, Chapman J, Zhou JJ (2007) Towards integrated approaches to reduce flood risk in urban areas. In: Ashley R, Garvin S, Pasche E, Vassilopoulos A, Zevenbergen C (eds) Advances in urban flood management. Taylor & Francis, New York, pp 415–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Baan PJA, Klign F (2004) Flood risk perception and implications for flood risk management in the Netherlands. Int J River Basin Manag 2(2):113–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batker D, Barclay E, Boumans R, Hathaway T (2005) Ecosystems services enhanced by salmon habitat conservation in the Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed. Prepared for WRIA 9 Steering Committee and King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Water and Land resources Division

  • Berkes F (2007) Understanding uncertainty and reducing vulnerability: lessons from resilience thinking. Nat Hazards 41(2):283–295

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berkes F, Colding J, Folke C (eds) (2003) Navigating social-ecological system: building resilience for complexity and change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernhardt E, Bunn SE, Hart DD, Malmqvist B, Muotka T, Naiman RJ, Pringle C, Reuss M, van Wilgen B (2006) Perspective: the challenge of ecologically sustainable water management. Water Policy 8(5):475–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosher L (2009) Briefing: researching a more resilient built environment. Proc Inst Civ Eng Urban Des Plan 162(DP2):59–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Brookes A (1988) Channelized rivers: perspectives for environmental management. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown AG (1996) Floodplain palaeoenvironments. In: Anderson MG, Walling DE, Bates PD (eds) Floodplain processes. Wiley, New York, pp 95–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunn SE, Arthington AH (2002) Basic principles and ecological consequences of altered flow regimes for aquatic biodiversity. Environ Manag 30(4):492–507

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burton I, Kates RW, White GF (1993) The environment as hazard, 2nd edn. The Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Castonguay S (2007) The production of flood as natural catastrophe: extreme events and the construction of vulnerability in the drainage basin of the St. Francis River (Quebec), mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Environ Hist 12:820–844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Changnon SA (2003) Shifting economic impacts from weather extremes in the United States: a result of societal changes, not global warming. Nat Hazards 29:273–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Church M (2002) Geomorphic thresholds in riverine landscapes. Freshw Biol 47:541–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • City of Kent (2004) City of Kent comprehensive emergency management plan: hazard identification and vulnerability analysis, 2nd edn

  • Clark C (1982) Flood. Time-Life Books, Alexandria

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffin C, Lee S, DeGasperi C (2011) Green river temperature total maximum daily load water quality improvement report. Washington State Department of Ecology Publication No. 11-10.046

  • Collins B, Sheikh A (2005) Historical aquatic habitats in the Green and Duwamish River valleys and the Elliot Bay nearshore, King County, Washington. Project completion report to King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks

  • Colten CE, Sumpter AR (2009) Social memory and resilience in New Orleans. Nat Hazards 48(3):355–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Correia FN, Fordham M, Saraiva DG, Bernado F (1998) Flood hazard assessment and management: interface with the public. Water Resour Manag 12(3):209–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cuny FC (1991) Living with floods: alternatives for riverine flood mitigation. Land Use Policy 8(4):331–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day JW, Boesch DF, Clairain EJ, Kemp GP, Laska SB, Mitsch WJ, Orth K, Mashriqui H, Reed DJ, Shabman L, Simenstad CA, Streever BJ, Twilley RR, Watson CC, Wells JT, Whigham DF (2007) Restoration of the Mississippi Delta: lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Science 315:1679–1684

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunne T, Dietrich WE (1979) Geomorphology and hydrology of the Green River. In: Jones and Jones (eds) A river of green. Report to King County, pp A1–A33

  • Etkin D (1999) Risk transference and related trends: driving forces towards more mega-disasters. Environ Hazards 1:69–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Everard M, Moggridge HL (2012) Rediscovering the value of urban rivers. Urban Ecosyst 15:293–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • FEMA: FEMA Region X Mitigation (2009) HAZUS analysis for the Green River Valley

  • Fiering MB (1982) Alternative indices of resilience. Water Resour Res 18(1):33–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Folke C, Jansson A, Larsson J, Costanza R (1997) Ecosystem appropriation by cities. Ambio 26:167–172

    Google Scholar 

  • Folke C, Carpenter S, Elmqvist T, Gunderson L, Holling CS, Walker B (2002) Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations. Ambio 31(5):437–440

    Google Scholar 

  • Folke C, Carpenter SR, Walker B, Scheffer M, Chapin T (2010) Resileince thinking: integrating resilience, adaptability and transformability. Ecol Soc 15(4):20

    Google Scholar 

  • Freitag B, Bolton S, Westerlund F, Clark JLS (2009) Floodplain management: a new approach for a new era. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergel AE, Carpenter SR, Stanley EH (2005) Do dams and levees impact nitrogen cycling? Simulating the effects of flood alterations on floodplain denitrification. Glob Chang Biol 11:1352–1367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godschalk DR (2003) Urban hazard mitigation: creating resilient cities. Nat Hazards Rev 4(3):136–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griggs GB, Paris L (1982) Flood control failure: San Lorenzo River, California. Environ Manag 6(5):407–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm NB, Faeth SH, Golubiewski NE, Redman CL, Wu J, Bai X, Briggs JM (2008) Global change and the ecology of cities. Science 319:756–760

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guikema SD (2009) Infrastructure design issues in disaster-prone-regions. Science 323:1302–1303

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson LH (2010) Ecological and human community resilience in response to natural disasters. Ecol Soc 15(2):18

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson LH, Holling CS (eds) (2002) Panarchy: understanding transformations in human and natural systems. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Gurnell A, Lee M, Souch C (2007) Urban rivers: hydrology, geomorphology, ecology, and opportunities for change. Geogr Compass 1(5):1118–1137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hallegatte S (2009) Strategies to adapt to an uncertain climate change. Glob Environ Chang 19:240–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewitt K, Burton I (1971) The hazardousness of a place: a regional ecology of damaging events. University of Toronto Press, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS (1973) Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 4:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS (1996) Surprise for science, resilience for ecosystems, and incentives for people. Ecol Appl 6(3):733–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS, Meffe GK (1996) Command and control and the pathology of natural resource management. Conserv Biol 10(2):328–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) Summary for policymakers. In: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL (eds) Climate change 2007: the physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

  • IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2012) Summary for Policymakers. In: Field CB, Barros V, Stocker TF, Qin D, Dokken DJ, Ebi KL, Mastrandrea MD, Mach KJ, Plattner GK, Allen SK, Tignor M, Midgley PM (eds) Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. A special report of working groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–19

  • Jones HP, Hole DG, Zavaleta ES (2012) Harnessing nature to help people adapt to climate change. Nat Clim Chang 2:504–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerwin J, Nelson TS (eds) (2000) Habitat limiting factors and reconnaissance assessment report, Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watersheds (WRIA 9 and Vashon Island), vol 1. King County Department of Natural Resources

  • King County (2006) Flood hazard management plan: King County, Washington. King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Water and Land Resources Division, Seattle, Washington

  • Klijn F, van Buuren M, van Rooij SAM (2004) Flood-risk management strategies for an uncertain future: living with Rhine River floods in the Netherlands? Ambio 33(3):141–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroes DE, Hupp CR (2010) The effect of channelization of floodplain sediment deposition and subsidence along the Pocomoke River, Maryland. J Am Water Resour As 46(4):686–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laituri MJ (2000) Cultural perspectives of flooding. In: Wohl EE (ed) Inland flood hazards: human, riparian, and aquatic communities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 451–468

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lane EW (1955) The importance of fluvial morphology in hydraulic engineering. Proc Am Soc Civ Eng 81(795):1–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane SN, Richards KS (1997) Linking river channel form and process: time, space and causality revisited. Earth Surf Process Landf 22:249–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liao K-H (2012) A theory on urban resilience to floods—a basis for alternative planning practices. Ecol Soc 17(4):48

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Dietz T, Carpenter SR, Alberti M, Folke C, Moran E, Pell AN, Deadman P, Kratz T, Lubchenco J, Ostrom E, Ouyang Z, Provencher W, Redman CL, Schneider SH, Taylor WW (2007) Complexity of coupled human and natural systems. Science 317:1513–1516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mantua N, Tohver I, Hamlet A (2010) Climate change impacts on streamflow extremes and summertime stream temperature and their possible consequences for freshwater salmon habitat in Washington State. Clim Chang 102:187–223

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milly PCD, Betancourt J, Falkenmark M, Hirsch RM, Kundzewicz ZW, Lettenmaier DP, Stouffer RJ (2008) Stationarity is dead: whither water management? Science 319:573–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montz BE, Tobin GA (2008) Livin’ large with levees: lessons learned and lost. Nat Hazards Rev 9(3):150–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moss T, Monstadt J (eds) (2008) Restoring floodplains in Europe: policy contexts and project experiences. IWA, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Mount JF (1995) California rivers and streams: the conflict between fluvial processes and land use. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullineaux DR (1970) Geology of the Renton, Auburn and Black Diamond quadrangles, King County, WA. USGS Professional Paper 672

  • Naiman RJ, Décamps H, McClain ME (2005) Riparia: ecology, conservation, and management of streamside communities. Elsevier Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Naiman RJ, Helfield JM, Bartz KK, Drake DC, Honea JM (2009) Pacific salmon, marine-derived nutrients and the characteristics of aquatic and riparian ecosystems. In: Haro AJ, Smith KL, Rulifson TA, Moffitt CM, Klauda RJ, Dadswell MJ, Cunjak RA, Cooper JE, Beal KL, Avery TS (eds) Challenges for diadromous fishes in a dynamic global environment, vol 69. American Fisheries Society symposium, Bethesda, pp 395–425

  • Nakao T, Tanimoto K (1997) Comprehensive flood control measures in the Tsurumi River Basin in Japan. Water Int 22(4):252–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson DR, Adger WN, Brown K (2007) Adaptation to environmental change: contributions of a resilience framework. Annu Rev Environ Resourc 32:395–419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NHC: Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (2008) Floodplain mapping study for Lower Green River: river miles 3.85 to state highway 18 (RM 33.25). Prepared for King County River and Floodplain Management Water and Land resources Division, Department of Natural resources and Parks

  • NHRAIC: National Hazards Research and Applications Information Center (1992) Floodplain management in the United States: an assessment report, vol 1. Prepared for Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task Force

  • Nienhuis PH, Leuven RSEW (2001) River restoration and flood protection: controversy or synergism? Hydrobiologia 444:85–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson C, Berggren K (2000) Alterations of riparian ecosystems caused by river regulation. Bioscience 50(9):783–792

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obropta CC, Kallin PL (2007) The restoration of an urban floodplain in Rahway, New Jersey. Ecol Restor 25(3):175–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opperman JJ, Galloway GE, Fargione J, Mount JF, Richter BD, Secchi S (2009) Sustainable floodplains through large-scale reconnection to rivers. Science 326:1487–1488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pahl-Wostl C (2002) Towards sustainability in the water sector: the importance of human actors and processes of social learning. Aquat Sci 64:394–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pahl-Wostl C (2006) The importance of social learning in restring the multifunctionality of rivers and floodplains. Ecol Soc 11(1):10

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer MA (2010) Beyond infrastructure. Science 467:534–535

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker DJ (1995) Floodplain development policy in England and Wales. Appl Geogr 15(4):341–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker DJ (ed) (2000a) Floods, v1 and v2. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker DJ (2000b) Introduction. In: Parker DJ (ed) Floods, v2. Routledge, London, pp 3–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Pess GR, Morley SA, Hall JL, Timm RK (2005) Monitoring floodplain restoration. In: Roni P (ed) Monitoring stream and watershed restoration. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, pp 122–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Petts GE (1984) Impounded rivers: perspectives for ecological management. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Petts GE, Nestler J, Kennedy R (2006) Advancing science for water resources management. Hydrobiologia 565:277–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philippi NS (1996) Floodplain management: ecologic and economic perspectives. R.G. Landes Company, Austin

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips JD (1991) Multiple modes of adjustment in unstable river channel cross-sections. J Hydrol 123:39–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pielke RA (1999) Nine fallacies of floods. Clim Chang 42:413–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinay G, Clement JC, Naiman RJ (2002) Basic principles and ecological consequences of changing water regimes on nitrogen cycling in fluvial systems. Environ Manag 30(4):481–491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinter N (2005) One step forward, two steps back on U.S. floodplains. Science 308:207–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poff NL, Allan JD, Bain MB, Karr JR, Prestegaard KL, Richter BD, Sparks RE, Stromberg JC (1997) The nature flow regime: a paradigm for river conservation and restoration. Bioscience 47(11):769–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poff NL, Richter BD, Arthington AH, Bunn SE, Naiman RJ, Kendy E, Acreman M, Apse C, Bledsoe BP, Freeman MC, Henriksen J, Jacobson RB, Kennen JG, Merritt DM, O’Keeffe JH, Olden JD, Rogers K, Tharme RE, Warner A (2010) The ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA): a new framework for developing regional environmental flow standards. Freshw Biol 55:147–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Postel S, Richter B (2003) Rivers for life: managing water for people and nature. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell AE (2010) The infrastructure roundtables: seeking solutions to an American crisis. Civ Eng 80(4):42–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn TP (2005) The behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahn PH (1984) Flood-plain management program in Rapid City, South Dakota. Geol Soc Am Bull 95:838–843

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinelt L (ed) (2005) WIRA 9 strategic assessment report: scientific foundation for salmonid habitat conservation. Prepared for Water Resources Inventory Area (WRIA) 9 Steering Committee

  • Richter BD, Baumgartner JV, Powell J, Braun DP (1996) A method for assessing hydrologic alteration within ecosystems. Conserv Biol 10(4):1163–1174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruggerone GT, Weitkamp DE (2004) WRIA 9 Chinook salmon research framework: identifying key research questions about Chinook salmon life histories and habitat use in the Middle and Lower Green River, Duwasmish waterway, and marine nearshore areas. Prepared for WRIA 9 Steering Committee and WRIA 9 Steering Committee

  • Sato M (1997) The price of taming a river: the decline of Puget Sound’s Duwamish/Green waterway. The Mountaineers, Seattle

    Google Scholar 

  • Satterstrom FN (1982) An analysis of shoreline policy along the Green River in King County, Washington. Master thesis, University of Washington

  • Scawthorn C, Flores P, Blais N, Seligson H, Tate E, Chang S, Mifflin E, Thomas W, Murphy J, Jones C, Lawrence M (2006) HAZUS-MH flood loss estimation methodology II: damage and loss assessment. Nat Hazards Rev 7(2):72–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schumm SA (2005) River variability and complexity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Siegrist M, Gutscher H (2008) Natural hazards and motivation for mitigation behavior: people cannot predict the affect evoked by a severe flood. Risk Anal 28(3):771–778

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon A (1989) A model of channel response in disturbed alluvial channels. Earth Surf Process Landf 14:11–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith K, Ward R (1998) Floods: physical processes and human impacts. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Smits AJM, Nienhuis PH, Saeijs HLF (2006) Changing estuaries, changing views. Hydrobiologia 565:339–355

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sommer TR, Harrell WC, Solger AM, Tom B, Kimmerer W (2004) Effects of flow variation on channel and floodplain biota and habitats of the Sacramento River, California, USA. Aquat Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst 14:247–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Swenson RO, Whitener K, Eaton M (2003) Restoring floods on floodplains: riparian and floodplain restoration at the Cosumnes River Preserve. In: Faber PM (ed) California riparian systems: processes and floodplains management, ecology, and restoration. Proceedings of the 2001 riparian habitat and floodplains conference. Riparian Habitat Joint Venture, Sacramento, pp 224–229

  • Tetra Tech (2010) Green River external advisory review panel report. Prepared for King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks, Water and Land Resources Division, River and Floodplain Management Section

  • Thomson G, Clark D, McCracken H (eds) (2005) Salmon habitat plan: making our watershed fir for a king. Prepared for Green/Duwasmish and Central Puget Sound Watershed Water Resource Inventory Area 9 (WRIA 9) forum

  • Tobin GA (1995) The levee love affair: a stormy relationship? Water Resour Bull 31(3):359–367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tockner K, Bunn SE, Gordon C, Naiman RJ, Quinn GP, Standford JA (2008) Flood plains: critically threatened ecosystems. In: Polunin NVC (ed) Aquatic ecosystems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 45–61

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Vis M, Klijn F, de Bruijn KM, van Buuren M (2003) Resilience strategies for flood risk management in the Netherlands. Int J River Basin Manag 1(1):33–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Aber JD, Howarth RW, Likens GE, Matson PA, Schindler DW, Schlesinger WH, Tilman GD (1997) Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: causes and consequences. Ecol Appl 7(3):737–750

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker B, Holling CS, Carpenter SR, Kinzig A (2004) Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social-ecological systems. Ecol Soc 9(2):5

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward JV, Standford JA (1995) Ecological connectivity in alluvial rivers ecosystems and its disruption by flow regulation. Regul Rivers Res Manag 11:105–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Welcomme R (2008) World prospects for floodplain fisheries. Ecohydrol Hydroecol 8(2–4):169–182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White GF (1945) Human adjustment to floods: a geographical approach to the flood problem in the United States. University of Chicago, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams P (1998) Inviting trouble downstream. Civ Eng 68(2):50–53

    Google Scholar 

  • WIRA (Watershed Resource Inventory Area) 9 Implementation Technical Committee (2012) WRIA 9 status and trends monitoring report: 2005–2010. Prepared for the Watershed Resource Inventory Area 9 Watershed Ecosystem Forum, Seattle, WA

  • Wohl EE (ed) (2000a) Inland flood hazards: human, riparian, and aquatic communities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Wohl EE (2000b) Inland flood hazards. In: Wohl EE (ed) Inland flood hazards: human, riparian, and aquatic communities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 3–36

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wohl EE (2000c) Geomorphic effects of floods. In: Wohl EE (ed) Inland flood hazards: human, riparian, and aquatic communities. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 167–187

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zevenbergen C, Gersonius B (2007) Challenges in urban flood management. In: Ashley R, Garvin S, Pasche E, Vassilopoulos A, Zevenbergen C (eds) Advances in urban flood management. Taylor & Francis, New York, p 1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zevenbergen C, Cashman A, Evelpidou N, Pasche E, Garvin S, Ashley R (2011) Urban flood management. CRC Press, London

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I am indebted to several members from the Department of Natural Resources and Parks of King County, Washington: Dennis Clark, Josh Latterell, and Doug Osterman were immensely supportive and generous in sharing their wealth of knowledge about the Green/Duwamish River basin; Andy Levesque and Sarah McCarthy provided insights into current management issues of the basin; Kyle Comanor, Ken Zweig, and Laurel Preston provided associated GIS and other data. I am also thankful to Kelley S. Stone from FEMA Region X for her insights into the flood management practices in the region, as well as Paul Schlenger and John Small from Anchor QEA, LLC, for sharing the habitat survey data. This paper tremendously benefited from the discussion with several faculty members from the University of Washington: Marina Alberti, Robert Mugerauer, Robert J. Naiman, Robert Freitag, Brain Collins, and Charles A. Simenstad, as well as Christopher P. Konrad of USGS and Dan Siemann of the National Wildlife Federation. Finally, I thank Marina Alberti, Robert Mugerauer, Robert J. Naiman, Christopher P. Konrad, and Dennis Clark again for their valuable comments that helped to improve this paper. I also thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Kuei-Hsien Liao

Authors
  1. Kuei-Hsien Liao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kuei-Hsien Liao.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Liao, KH. From flood control to flood adaptation: a case study on the Lower Green River Valley and the City of Kent in King County, Washington. Nat Hazards 71, 723–750 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0923-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-013-0923-4

Keywords

  • City of Kent
  • Coupled human–natural systems
  • Built environment
  • Flood adaptation
  • Flood control infrastructure
  • Lower Green River
  • Urban flood management