Houston, “The Bayou City,” has had a tense relationship with its bayous and their floodplains. As with any city with much of its development in the floodplain, flooding is always a very real risk — and it isn’t just an infrastructure problem. It is a PR problem.
[This post originally appeared on the American Planning Association’s Kid’s Planning Toolbox blog]
For starters, the term “one-hundred-year flood” is misleading. It implies that there will be 100 years between events, and to many people this doesn’t sound so risky. Secondly, FIRM maps that show the line are not easy for the average citizen to comprehend — and they aren’t readily available.
To most people the flood line is invisible — and out of sight, out of mind.
Water levels, however, can be seen even after the flood. As waters recede, the floating fragments and trash are deposited in a single line at the elevation of the flood: the debris line. This line gave me an idea.
We could make a debris line that show the 100-year flood line and open Houstonians’ eyes to the very real danger of living in the flood plain. So over the course of the next year, I’m organizing two events, “Trashed” and “Flash Flood” that do just this.
The “Trashed” event, which will take place in spring 2013, is a month-long art installation that will illuminate a stretch of the 100-year flood line running through bayou-adjacent parks and an urban neighborhood.
Where possible we’ll indicate the line itself. But where the line wanders onto private property, we’ll use tree flags on trees, signs and light posts on near-by public property to show the water level of a 100-year flood, indicating just how far underwater these businesses, homes and public spaces will be.
The centerpiece of this installation uses garbage collected from the bayou itself to create a man-made debris line. We’ll pin approximately one mile of this trash directly on the 100-year flood line through the parks and open spaces of the site.
The “Flash Flood” event, which will be held in the fall of 2012, intends to remind people of the unexpected nature and severity of a 100-year flood. This event is aimed at the next generation, because we think young people can be very effective at spreading information. Once kids understand a concept, they take it home and teach it to their families.
Flash Flood goes deeper than just showing the line. We’ll start by making presentations about bayous and floodplains to 7 public K-12 schools in Houston’s White Oak Bayou area. In addition to explaining how bayous and floodplains perform as the region’s natural infrastructure, we’ll also show them how they can affect the way stormwater is managed and reduce flood risks by making changes at home — like adding rain barrels, swales, permeable surfaces and other soft features that can hold the water back from the congested waterways.
