A Systemic Equity Assessment of Houston's Incentive Program for Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Flood disasters disproportionately affect under-resourced and under-served communities with high social vulnerability. Green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) has shown to be effective in reducing flood depths while also providing myriad community health and economic benefits. In the face of increased climate variability, local governments are progressively incentivizing the construction of GSI to spark a transition toward resilient, adaptive communities. However, GSI is largely concentrated in affluent and White neighborhoods. This study examines whether the incentivization of GSI in the coastal City of Houston has resulted in an equitable distribution of GSI and its many benefits throughout the city. We use a systemic equity framework to assess the distributive (i.e., resource administration), procedural (i.e., policy), and recognitional (i.e., needs of marginalized groups) equity of the three-component GSI incentive program recently initiated by the City of Houston. We find that very few of the GSI projects constructed under the incentive program are in Northeast Houston, where most of Houston's socially vulnerable populations reside. The incentive program has, on paper, increased the availability of GSI to Houstonians, but the accessibility of GSI remains limited. We analyze GSI policy options that may increase systemic equity in GSI and provide a policy recommendation that considers broad stakeholder perspectives.