Optimization of multiple storm surge risk mitigation strategies for an Island City On a Wedge

TL;DR

This paper introduces a computationally efficient framework for optimizing multiple storm surge risk mitigation strategies in coastal cities, balancing effectiveness and cost to improve decision-making.

Contribution

It develops a new, accessible modeling framework that incorporates key features of coastal flood risks and applies it to optimize combined mitigation strategies.

Findings

Combination strategies outperform individual options in risk reduction.

Pareto optimal solutions identify best trade-offs between objectives.

Framework is applicable to idealized coastal city scenarios.

Abstract

Managing coastal flood risks involves choosing among portfolios of different options. Analyzing these choices typically requires a model. State-of-the-art coastal risk models provide detailed regional information, but can be difficult to implement, computationally challenging, and potentially inaccessible to smaller communities. Simple economic damage models are more accessible, but may not incorporate important features and thus fail to model risks and trade-offs with enough fidelity to effectively support decision making. Here we develop a new framework to analyze coastal flood control. The framework is computationally inexpensive, yet incorporates common features of many coastal cities. We apply this framework to an idealized coastal city and assess and optimize two objectives using combinations of risk mitigation strategies against a wide range of future states of the world. We find that optimization using combinations of strategies allows for identification of Pareto optimal strategy combinations that outperform individual strategy options.