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“Too often after major flood disasters, the public conversation stops at sirens and dashboards,” says Adnan Rajib. The UT Arlington researcher is tracking floodplain changes that guide recovery and build resilience in a new study. [Photo: UTA]

A University of Texas at Arlington lab that created real-time maps of July’s Hill Country floods has published research addressing how to standardize floodplain change tracking worldwide.

The Hydrology & Hydroinformatics Innovation Lab led by civil engineering assistant professor Adnan Rajib, produced a 2023 study published in Nature Scientific Data that estimated nearly 150 million acres of natural floodplains were converted to agriculture and development between 1992 and 2019. It was the first global estimate of floodplain loss, according to UTA.

When catastrophic floods—among the deadliest in U.S. history—hit the Texas Hill Country in July 2025, the H2I Lab developed real-time, time-stamped flood maps showing how quickly the Guadalupe River rose. UT Arlington said the visuals—later featured by CBS News Texas—gave residents and local and state officials a clearer picture of how the disaster unfolded.

“Rapid maps and warnings help in the first 24 hours,” Rajib said. “But a structured dataset capturing how humans have been changing natural floodplains helps forever. Texas—and flood-prone communities everywhere—need both.”

The lab’s latest work, published in Cell Reports Sustainability, examines why communities struggle to track human-made floodplain changes that can worsen flooding.

The standardization challenge

The article, titled “Barriers to quantifying human alterations of global floodplains and how we can overcome them,” identifies obstacles to measuring floodplain changes. Without standardized measurement methods, “communities risk falling short in recovery and preparation efforts,” according to the article.

UTA said the study identifies four major challenges: different definitions of what counts as floodplain changes, inconsistent maps showing floodplain boundaries, limited use of key indicators that predict changes, and data that doesn’t line up in scale or resolution, making comparisons difficult.

The article proposes practical fixes, calling for a shared set of metrics to help agencies compare projects fairly, revise ordinances, and restore wetlands or habitats with more confidence.

“Too often after major flood disasters, the public conversation stops at sirens and dashboards,” Rajib said about flood warning systems. “True community resilience requires field-ready maps of floodplain alterations to guide recovery and rebuilding long after the cameras are gone.”

Rajib said real-time flood mapping and standardized floodplain change data—together—could help affected communities relocate homeowners from flood-prone areas, invest in green infrastructure to manage stormwater and reduce flood risk, and strengthen resilience against the next major storm.

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