In D.C., the huge bulk of new riverfront land became parks, nowadays handled by the National forest Service. "There was Key Reference at the time about resiliency, standing up to flood damage and things of that sort," says historian John Wennersten, who has authored several books about D.C. waterways. "It was producing more land area for the development of what they called 'monumental Washington,' between 1890 and 1920.
D.C. also lucked out in regards to geography: the city is further inland than many East Coast cities, and it is situated on the fall line the place where the coastal plain shifts to greater, hillier land. Much of the city is developed on the uphill side of the fall line.
"The city is not going to stop structure," states Meredith Upchurch, with the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment. "We still require to be using a lot of those areas for residential real estate, for commerce. People wish to be near the river it's a really desirable location." The city is updating floodplain policies to account for increasing water level, which Upchurch states will more than double the variety of structures thought about flood vulnerable and based on flood-proofing requirements.