Floodwaters surround a home on September 6, 2017 in Houston, Texas. Over a week after Hurricane Harvey hit Southern Texas, residents are beginning the long process of recovering from the storm.
Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty

As flooding becomes more and more commonplace across the country as an impact of climate change, a new study argues that strategic property buyouts in flood-prone areas could protect communities by enhancing flood resiliency.

Communities see both environmental and economic gains when cities preemptively buy out properties near one another, especially if those properties are near wetlands or green space, according to new research published Thursday by the Nature Conservancy and Texas A&M University. These areas also benefit from buyouts that occur in advance, the study argues, as opposed to after flooding has taken its toll.

“Protecting open space and critical natural resources are becoming important tools with which to mitigate the adverse effects of flooding,” the study notes. “However, land acquisition and buyout programs are almost always initiated in a reactionary, ad hoc manner after a […]