The Delaware Department Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) has launched a new web-based tool designed to help residents identify steps they can take to protect their property from flood damage.
The new tool – the Individual Adaptation Decision And Planning Tool (I-ADAPT) – is managed by the DNREC’s Division of Climate, Coastal, and Energy, and Division of Watershed Stewardship.
“Flooding is not something that impacts only our coastal communities,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “Climate change is bringing more frequent and intense storms that result in flooding in our urban and inland communities. I-ADAPT can help identify ways that residents can prepare their homes and businesses before flooding occurs.”
To use the tool, residents input answers about their property and preferences and I-ADAPT uses that information to identify personalized adaptation solutions they can incorporate now or in the future to increase their property’s resilience to flood events. The recommendations also include estimated budgets and additional resources for specific projects.
DNREC notes that at the end of the survey, users can have the recommendations emailed to them for ease and accessibility. Additionally, the tool was built with user privacy in mind; the DNREC explained that information shared with I-ADAPT is not saved. With that in mind, users who do not save or email the adaptation strategies to themselves would need to recomplete the survey to receive the recommendations again.
The department is hosting a series of in-person meetings across the three counties impacted by flooding to raise awareness about I-ADAPT and how it works.
DNREC has scheduled meetings in each of the three counties to promote awareness about I-ADAPT and how it works. At the events trained staff and computers will be available to assist the public in using I-ADAPT to generate adaptation strategies for their individual properties.
