As weather patterns bring heavy rains, rising tides and storm surges, the shorelines of our communities are not the only areas impacted. Inland communities are facing new and evolving challenges as well. From more frequent storms and flash flooding environmental stresses can strain our infrastructure and threaten the safety and well-being of our neighborhoods. At BL Companies, we recognize that building inland resilience is not just about responding to these challenges—it’s about proactively designing communities that can withstand and adapt to whatever the future brings.
What is Inland Resilience?
Inland resilience refers to the capacity of an area to absorb, adapt, and recover from environmental stressors like flooding, drought, and extreme weather events. This concept is particularly crucial in regions that may not have the natural defenses of some coastal areas but still face significant risks. For these communities, resilience needs to be built into every aspect of design and planning, from how we manage stormwater to the way we design our green spaces.
As recently seen along the East Coast from Florida into New England, with increasing rainfall intensity and storm durations, traditional and aging bridges, culverts and drainage systems can quickly become overwhelmed, leading to flooding that disrupts lives and damages property.
Green infrastructure—such as bio swales, infiltration basins, permeable surfaces, green roofs, and rain gardens—will play a key role in improving water quality, managing runoff and promoting groundwater recharge, making our communities more adaptable to changing conditions.
Beyond the use of green infrastructure and low impact design techniques, design of resilient stormwater infrastructure and systems with greater capacity will likely be required to ensure public safety and provide for critical access throughout our communities. This includes incorporating features like stormwater management ponds, flood control/mitigation improvements and resilient structures that can manage stormwater more effectively and reduce the impacts from flooding.
At BL Companies, we understand that resilience is more than just a buzzword—it’s a crucial factor in the planning, design and improvement to our communities. BL’s multi-discipline expertise and our team’s past experience ideally position our firm to “weather” the storms to come while supporting our clients on their critical projects.