THE INSIDER

The Association of State Floodplain Managers

2809 Fish Hatchery Rd., Madison, WI 53713 www.floods.org

608-274-0123 Fax: 608-274-0696

Executive Director’s Report

Larry Larson, P.E., CFM

Flood losses in the United States continue to increase in real dollars, despite years of national programs and policies to manage flood risk. Some argue the damages are not a problem when compared to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but the bottom line is that paying for disasters is usually done by reducing other federal domestic spending, such as health care or education. This makes it a true issue of priorities in the federal budget, which should demand our attention.

That being said, national policy discussions are getting deeper and deeper into exploring the need to change the paradigm of how the nation manages flood risk. The current model relies heavily on federal-level approaches, which in turn rely on state and local partners to implement land use, building code, and mitigation programs. However, the 500-pound gorilla in this mix is federal disaster assistance, which rushes in when flood disasters occur. These federal disaster dollars too often reward those communities and states who do little or nothing to reduce their flood risk. Furthermore, there are no incentives in the current approaches to encourage state or local partners to go beyond minimum national standards so that they can actually reduce total damage, let alone foster innovation and the integration of programs to achieve multiple objectives, such as improving water quality or providing local recreational opportunities.

ASFPM has been involved in numerous national policy dialogues with partner organizations in the past year. These have included the Flood Risk Policy Summit we co-sponsored with the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA), with strong support from the Corps of Engineers and FEMA; the American Water Resources Association’s National Water Policy Dialogue; and discussions with the leadership of numerous agencies, the White House staff, and researchers. One concept that is receiving more and more support in these discussions and beyond is the need to change our top-down model of flood risk management so that states become the focal point for managing flood risk. The logic is that the methods that will most effectively manage and reduce flood risk rely on authorities that are reserved to the states under our Constitution, namely land use management, building codes, and community planning for development, mitigation, and resource protection.

In 1965, House Document 465 set forth the proposition that flood losses could only be reduced through a Unified National Program, which would require the integrated involvement of the federal, state and local governments. This integration has to be both vertical and horizontal, and result in the situation in which those who live at risk bear the proportionate cost of doing so. For those interested, you can read the above mentioned document at: http://www.loc.gov/rr/law/floods89-465.pdf .

What factors would encourage or induce states to step up to the plate? This is a critical part of the ongoing discussion. For the past 70 years, starting with the1936 Flood Control Act through the 1968 National Flood Insurance Program Act and its reforms, along with various versions of the Disaster Relief Act, those national programs and policies have led state legislatures, Governors and local decision makers to believe that flooding is the problem of the federal government. Over the decades, this has resulted in many states and locals putting little or no resources or effort into reducing flood risk. There are no incentives for states and locals to accept their responsibility to reduce flood risk. An exception is the participation of about 1,000 communities in the NFIP’s Community Rating System, which encourages some local activities beyond the national minimums. However, under the CRS model, the rewards (lowered insurance premiums) go to individual residents who have flood insurance policies, not to the community or state. Broader, long-term results would be achieved by offering incentives directly to the state or community—the entities that must plan and carry out the specific flood loss reduction program or action, and whose strengthened capability will reduce future losses.

What is the appropriate model to devolve flood risk and floodplain management programs to the states? Almost none of the current federal flood risk programs are delegated to the states, and that includes the NFIP, flood mitigation, and water resource development programs. Many of these programs have some state involvement or some contractual arrangement with states, but do not delegate authority or decision making to the states. Few governors or legislatures are interested in those non-delegated approaches, and they continue to view such efforts as federal programs with federal disaster assistance as a backdrop, thus not requiring state or local leadership. Models of programs that actually delegate authority for decision making and funding to states include the Clean Water Act and the federal highway programs. Under these models, the state works with federal programs to reach agreement on the state-specific goals of the program, then designs the state program to achieve those goals. The program is not delegated to a state until appropriate state laws and capabilities are in place. The federal program then has oversight and auditing functions to ensure the goals are being met and can, and does, withhold federal funds if the state does not uphold its end of the agreement.

What incentives might be most effective? ASFPM has long advocated that federal programs use a sliding cost share to reward positive state actions. A sliding cost share could apply to disaster assistance payments, which might have the 75 federal/25 state/local as a base, but the federal share could increase as states undertake more and more actions that will reduce their risk to flooding and other natural hazards. The same sliding cost share could apply to water resources and flood mitigation projects. Another approach would be that, when states invest in important flood risk activities such as flood mapping, that amount of money could be “banked” toward the non-federal share of the next disaster. In this way, state legislators and governors can see the benefit of a “pay now or pay later” scenario, and in the meantime their citizens are safer, suffer fewer flood losses and trauma, and future disasters are reduced.

What about the local role? This is where programs are implemented, so state programs need to be developed with strong local input and incorporate a process for rewarding communities who do more, just as under this proposed model, states who do more are rewarded with increased federal funds.

Over time, this or a similar shift in our flood risk management paradigm will build state and local capability and result both in reduced flood damage and losses and also in reduced federal spending for disaster assistance.

ASFPM members should become actively involved in this dialogue. Having discussions at your Chapter meetings and among your peers is important. Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the ASFPM office. This process will take time, but is critically important to our success as a nation in making our communities safer and more resilient places for our residents to live, work and play and our businesses to thrive.

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** REMINDER: Upcoming ASFPM Conference Deadlines **

Gulf Coast Floods Recovery: Mission Mitigation

The Mitigation Workshop will be held in New Orleans, LA, on Tuesday April 10 through Thursday April 12, 2007. The target audience is flood hazard management staff at all levels of government, decision makers in flooded communities, and the private and academic sectors. People working in these areas from all across the nation are encouraged to attend this important workshop. Topics will include flood mitigation planning and program options, funding sources, construction standards, lessons learned, success stories, insurance issues, recovery mapping, grant applications, coastal challenges, legal implications, and more.

Registration

The Early Bird Deadline for registration for the Mitigation Workshop is March 23, 2007, so be sure to get your registration in before then to be eligible for the discounted rate. You can find registration forms and the full conference program on our website at: http://www.floods.org/MissionMitigation

Hotel

We have secured a group rate at the Intercontinental New Orleans of $148 per night plus $2 per night occupancy fee and 13% tax (waived with proper exempt card) for the conference dates ONLY (April 9 - 13). The cutoff date for this special rate is March 19th, 2007.

Intercontinental New Orleans - View Hotel Website

444 St Charles Avenue,
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

Tel: 504-525-5566, Fax: 504-523-7310

ASFPM 31st Annual Conference – Norfolk, VA

“Charting the Course: New Perspectives in Floodplain Management”

ASFPM will conduct our 31st annual national conference June 3-8 in Norfolk, VA. Join other government officials, planners, engineers, consultants, watershed managers, educators and others for the most comprehensive floodplain management conference. This year’s theme, “Charting the Course” is a relevant theme in keeping with the unique nautical legacy of Norfolk. For floodplain managers this theme means tracking the progress and making critical decisions for approaching storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other such tempests; and monitoring the increasing trends in human migration and development in flood-prone areas. This important event can be your opportunity to participate in national dialogue and work with other professionals to make sustainable floodplain management and disaster-resilient communities a reality.

The brochure and registration forms can be found on our website at: www.floods.org/Norfolk. Just click on the 2007 conference logo and follow the registration link.

Registration

The Early Bird Deadline for registration for the ASFPM Annual Conference is April 15, 2007. Be sure to get your registration in before the 15th in order to take advantage of savings of $75 or more.

Hotels

**Hotels are filling up quickly so book your room soon! The Radisson is still accepting reservations, however the blocks at the Marriott and Sheraton are presently full. The phone number for the Radisson is 757-627-5555. We suggest you check back with the latter two hotels in March - you could get lucky and call when someone has just cancelled! Additional downtown hotels can be found on the Norfolk CVB website at: http://www.norfolkcvb.com/accommodations.cfm.

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Levee White Paper

Levee issues have surged to the forefront in the national policy debates following the catastrophic damages and deaths in New Orleans in 2005, and the ongoing efforts to reconstruct those levees to provide some level of protection to the citizens who live and work in the flood risk areas behind those levees. The New Orleans flood disaster illustrates the intersection of national levee policies between a variety of national programs and policies, and the horrible results that can occur when those policies are not properly aligned and implemented.


ASFPM urges those in the rest of the nation not to see New Orleans as an isolated and rare example of levee failure. There are probably over 30,000 miles of levees in hundreds of communities, with millions of people at risk in the flood risk zones behind levees. Recent news coverage has pointed out that levees
only provide protection to the design storm, after which they may overtop or fail. Inspection, operation and maintenance are designed so the levees will hold the design flood.


Experts in ASFPM from around the nation have contributed to the development of an "ASFPM white paper" on the challenges this nation faces in establishing and implementing good public policy associated with levees to protect the lives and property of people of this nation. The white paper discusses the issues and challenges and recommends 25 actions the nation should undertake so levees, when deemed essential, provide the protection they are designed to provide, and that citizens living in the flood risk areas behind those levees are aware of their risk and responsibility when living in those areas. Likewise, it is essential that communities which choose to use levees as their flood mitigation devise also understand their risk and responsibility.


The ASFPM Board approved the Levee policy paper at a meeting on Feb 13, 2007. You can download a copy of the paper from our website at:

http://www.floods.org/PDF/ASFPM_Levee_Policy_Challenges_White_Paper_021907.pdf

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ASFPM National Flood Programs and Policies in Review 2007

As the nation's leading organized voice for floodplain management, ASFPM periodically offers a status report of adjustments that are needed in national flood programs and policies to ensure effective loss reduction and the protection of floodplain resources.


The last such report was issued seven years ago, and ASFPM has just produced a draft update to it, National Flood Programs and Policies in Review 2007. The draft is the product of much hard work by ASFPM Board members, committees, members, and a working group. It is ready for final input and comment from ASFPM members and other floodplain management professionals, in anticipation of the issuance of a final version at our annual conference at Norfolk in June 2007. The link to this draft is: http://www.floods.org/PDF/ASFPM_NFPPR_2007_Draft.pdf.


This report was adopted by the ASFPM Board in February as a discussion draft for final input from ASFPM members and others. Although you were provided an opportunity to comment previously, this version is more complete, providing you more detail.


In 2007, many good things are happening in flood risk management within the United States. Under the surface there has been some retreat from the gains made during the 1990s, but on the other hand, advances are being made in other areas. This report provides a comprehensive (and perhaps the only current) record of changes in U.S. floodplain management policy. Its appraisals and recommendations represent the cumulative expertise of floodplain managers nationwide. Your response to the assessments of progress and the suggested policy recommendations that are contained in the draft is important to assure that ASFPM positions and observations accurately reflect the reality of flood risk management today.

Comments, updates, and suggestions are invited on all aspects of the report. If you are in a position to comment or provide additional data, or otherwise update or refine the report's contents, please do so by March 15, 2007 to the ASFPM Executive Office at this email: .

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ASFPM Recommendations on NFIP Reform 2007

ASFPM recently compiled a list of the Association’s recommendations on items that should and should not be included in NFIP reform legislation in 2007. You can view this list of recommendations on our website at: www.floods.org/PDF/ASFPM_NFIP_Reform_2007_Recommendations_022007.pdf