STRENGTHENING INCENTIVES FOR FLOOD RISK REDUCTION IN CATASTROPHE MODELING AND INSURANCE: Recommendations for California Coastal Counties

This report was developed for the California Department of Insurance to assess the state
of the science of food risk modeling and mitigation in California’s coastal counties and
to identify opportunities for advancing the science and integrating mitigation into flood
models. The findings in this report were developed via the following processes:
1) a literature review on food risk modeling; 2) semi-structured interviews with ten flood
catastrophe modeling groups, two insurers, and a consumer group; and 3) a
multi-sectoral workshop in May, 2026, that convened academic food modelers, private
sector food modelers, a set of relevant state decision-makers, reinsurance and insurance
sector representatives, nongovernmental organizations, and floodplain managers.

A Technical Steering Committee oversaw this process by providing direction in scoping
the initial literature review, workshop agenda, and reviewing drafts of this report. The
recommendations in this report reflect the independent findings of the report authors
and do not necessarily reflect the views or endorsements of the California Department of
Insurance or the California Ocean Science Trust. 

This report consists of three components:
1. This document, the main report, contains Key Findings and Recommendations.
2. A Technical Appendix: Understanding Flood Modeling, Mitigation, and Insurance,
containing additional background and context for the main report.
3. An Executive Brief containing a summary of the main report for a public audience.