Aqueduct Floods: Cost Benefit Analyzer Tool

The Aqueduct Floods Cost-Benefit Analyzer is a tool developed by the World Resources Institute to assess the economic feasibility of investing in flood protection infrastructure, specifically dikes and levees, to protect urban areas from riverine floods.

• The tool calculates the economic feasibility of flood protection by comparing total costs—comprising construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses—against the benefits of avoided damage to urban assets. It specifically excludes indirect impacts such as social disruption, environmental damage, or human health.
• Construction costs are determined by multiplying a country-specific cost factor (e.g., $7 million per meter depth per kilometer length in the United States) by the dimensions of the infrastructure. O&M costs are calculated as a percentage of the total construction cost over the infrastructure's lifespan.
• The tool determines economic benefits by calculating the 'Avoided Damage,' which is the difference between the 'Expected Annual Damage Without Adaptation' and the 'Expected Annual Damage With Adaptation.'
• Users can customize the analysis by selecting geographic areas (river basins, countries, or states), choosing from three future scenarios based on socioeconomic development and carbon emissions, and defining infrastructure parameters such as the return period (e.g., 100-year flood), lifespan, and discount rate.
• The tool provides a cost-benefit ratio to assess investment viability; a ratio less than one indicates that benefits outweigh costs. This can be inverted to show return on investment, such as a ratio of 1.36 representing $1.37 in benefits for every $1 spent.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Aqueduct Floods: Cost Benefit Analyzer Tool. https://www.wri.org/aqueduct/help-center/aqueduct-floods-cost-benefit-analyzer-tool

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Aqueduct Floods: Cost Benefit Analyzer Tool. n.d. https://www.wri.org/aqueduct/help-center/aqueduct-floods-cost-benefit-analyzer-tool.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Aqueduct Floods: Cost Benefit Analyzer Tool |url=https://www.wri.org/aqueduct/help-center/aqueduct-floods-cost-benefit-analyzer-tool |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendaqueduct, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Aqueduct Floods: Cost Benefit Analyzer Tool}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/aqueduct/help-center/aqueduct-floods-cost-benefit-analyzer-tool}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }