Research has focused on the effects of bacteria released from agricultural fields or municipalities and carried along by floodwaters for years. What happens to the pathogens that cause disease? How does it affect the communities that were exposed?
Iowa State Universitys Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering(CCEE), Professors Chris Rehmann & KaoruIkuma received a $249.114 award from the Water Resources Research Act Program National Competitive Subs ProgramTo conduct research on the exact question. This award was matched by the CCEE team with $253,594 of university support and partners.
The team works with the United States Embassy in three different locations. U.S. Geological SurveyTeam to study the effects of flood water on pathogens and determine if they persist in underserved areas.
Across the three locations – Loiza, Puerto Rico; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Houston, Texas, there is a history of floods from the coast or great lakes. The three locations are located in a flood area and are also close to potential sources of contamination like farms or wastewater treatment plants. Floods can pick-up pathogens in these areas and can expose communities to unjustifiable risks of pathogen exposure.
Rehmann & Ikuma will create a map of pathogen hotspots using their research as part of the road towards environmental justice. This map will show which areas have suffered the most from floods.
Ikuma stated that we want to have a map of hotspots for pathogens during floods and afterward. We can see the aftermath of the flood to determine if they stay or move around and have different hotspots.
After the map has been completed, they will be able to compare it with maps showing which communities live within the hotspots.
A big theme of this project is environmental justice – which is the idea that no single community should disproportionately bear the burden of contamination, Rehmann said. We want to find out what makes these populations more vulnerable than others in these three areas.
The team is developing computational models of flooding events that will help them understand the origins of pathogens and how they will react to flood waters. They can simulate the movement of water by using basic principles such as momentum and conservation of mass to predict where it will go. After assembling a general prediction, they can cross-check the results by incorporating past flood data into the model. They can also predict what will occur in other scenarios, including climate change.
These data can be used to determine the measurable flood risks, who it affects, and what pathogens are left behind after flooding.
Ikuma stated that there is a lot research on flooding research. However, not much research on what happens to the contaminants that remain behind. There were many images of people walking through flood areas after Hurricane Katrina. Every flood has news articles about people being infected with bacteria.
Exposure to pathogens can pose many health risks. The maps the team looked at show that low-income communities and people of color live in flood zones that are close to these pathogens. The team will be able to confirm the contamination pathways and provide recommendations on how communities and areas can be made more resilient against floods and pathogen exposure.
Rehmann and Ikuma both love to help underserved communities with this project. This data can help to create a more equitable and resilient infrastructure that will prevent environmental injustice.
Hopefully this will help people – help the people that have not been helped, Ikuma said. We don’t want to see environmental injustice so we are working to resolve it.
