Renee Bourdeau, PE (New Hampshire), and Julia Keay, PE (Massachusetts), presented “Tools for Flood Risk Management and Increased Resiliency in New York City” at NEIWPCC’s 33rd Annual Nonpoint Source (NPS) Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York, on April 12, 2023.

Renee is a Senior Water Resources Engineer with over 16 years of experience in water resources engineering, watershed and municipal planning, land use master planning, environmental permitting, design of stormwater controls, and green infrastructure techniques. She specializes in in assisting private and public sector clients comply with their Clean Water Act regulatory obligations.

Julia is a Project Engineer with over 10 years of experience in civil and water resources engineering. Her expertise includes hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, stormwater best management practice design, watershed-based planning, permitting compliance, project management, and litigation support.

Renee and Julia’s work is for the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s (NYCDEC’s) RISE: NYC project, which provides free services to small businesses affected by Superstorm Sandy to help them prepare for future storms and the impacts of climate change. NYCDEC is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization working to strengthen confidence in New York City as a great place to do business; grow innovative sectors, with a focus on equity; build neighborhoods as places to live, learn, work, and play; and deliver sustainable infrastructure for communities and the city’s future economy.

Since 1990, NEIWPCC, in partnership with its member states, has been coordinating the Annual NPS Conference. The Annual NPS Conference is the premier forum in the northeast for sharing information and improving communication on NPS pollution issues and projects. This year’s conference theme was “Environmental Justice, Equity, and Climate Change.” Presentations addressed environmental justice, NPS projects adapting to climate change, diversity and inclusion in NPS projects, equity, Justice40, and other topics.

Founded in 1947 as the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, NEIWPCC is a regional commission that helps the states of the Northeast preserve and advance water quality. They engage and convene water quality professionals and other interested parties from New England and New York to collaborate on water, wastewater, and environmental science challenges across shared regions, ecosystems, and areas of expertise.

Abstract

Hurricane Sandy caused an estimated $19 billion in damages in New York City (NYC) alone. Damage from the storm affected tens of thousands of small businesses, and most of these businesses remain vulnerable to future storms. This presentation will provide an overview of a project aimed at increasing NYC small businesses’ resiliency to impacts from flooding and future storm surges. As part of the project, flood risk resiliency audits were conducted at 15 NYC small businesses that were affected by Superstorm Sandy.  Findings from the audits, along with results of regional flood and storm surge modeling, were included in flood resiliency audit reports. The flood resiliency audit reports were used to improve businesses’ understanding of their potential risk of flooding and flood-induced damage and also identified potential flood protection measures that the business could implement to mitigate their flood risk. Each of the 15 small business sites also received an “active floodproofing” internet-hosted dashboard, which consisted of an adaptive system capable of autonomously monitoring storm surge conditions and providing warnings. Small business owners can access their active floodproofing dashboard remotely to help inform in real-time when flood protection measures should be activated. The 15 small business sites were also ranked, and the highest ranked sites were those that would have the greatest realized benefit from active floodproofing implementation from a feasibility, damage avoidance, and overall potential impact perspective. The highest ranked small business site is currently in the process of receiving flood protection measures including a removable flood panel barrier system and installation of a sewer backflow preventer.

More Information

About the event: 33rd Annual Nonpoint Source Conference • NEIWPCC
About NEIWPCC: What We Do • NEIWPCC
About NYCEDC: Meet NYCEDC | NYCEDC
About RISE: NYC: RISE : NYC | NYCEDC
For consultation regarding water resource engineering, contact Renee at rbourdeau@geosyntec.com or Julia at jkeay@geosyntec.com.
Learn more about Renee: Renee Bourdeau | LinkedIn
Learn more about Julia: Julia Keay, PE, CPESC | LinkedIn