Abstract
Despite increasing recognition of the severe and compounding risks posed by post-wildfire flooding and debris flows, little is known about available post-wildfire flood and debris flow decision-making frameworks and their effectiveness in disaster response, recovery, and resilience efforts. Throughout this paper we use “floods” as shorthand for post-wildfire flood hazards including water-driven debris flows. Existing scholarship has tended to emphasize hydrological modeling and hazard characterization, but gaps exist between these models and decision tools that can guide practitioners during post-wildfire flood response, recovery, and long-term resilience planning. This study employs a PRISMA systematic review of published literature to analyze current evidence-based decision-making frameworks for post-wildfire flood risk management and to identify decision making tools, structures, and processes associated with more resilient disaster recovery outcomes. Following a strict inclusion/exclusion criteria framework, the final sample included seven studies that analyzed post-wildfire flood risk management, predominantly in the United States. The studies span the timeline of the disaster cycle and show the types of decisions under consideration to reduce negative impacts of post-wildfire floods. Two of the seven studies examined designs for infrastructure in fire and flood-prone regions, four examined interventions within the watershed after the fire and before expected rainfall, and one study considered interventions to protect communities as heavy rains start. The findings demonstrate the importance of data driven analytical models tailored to specific watersheds that form the foundation for decision tools about potential mitigative actions. The review also demonstrates that few post-wildfire flood decision tools exist, despite many analytical models available. Decision makers need tools that balance data inputs and analytical intensity with usability.