Natural Hazards Observer
| July 2004 | Volume XXVIII | Number 6 |
No Adverse Impact:
Focus on Education and Outreach
The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) has been encouraging local governments to adopt a "No Adverse Impact" (NAI) approach to flood-plain management and new development to help control the spiral of flood and erosion losses. The ASFPM also encourages state and federal agencies to adopt and provide incentives for NAI approaches to the programs that they administer.
The Problem
Flood damage in the U.S. continues to escalate. From the early 1900s to the year 2000, they have increased fourfold, approaching $6 billion annually. This increase has occurred despite the spending of billions of dollars on floodplain management. Why is this happening? Nationally, development within floodplains and watersheds con-tinues to intensify. Often, buildings, streets, utilities, and other components of the built environment thought to be protected are flooded because of the poorly planned, unrelated activities of others. These actions raise flood heights and flood velocities and increase the potential for erosion and sedimentation.
Current federal floodplain management approaches allow floodwaters to be diverted onto other properties; channel and overbank conveyance areas to be reduced; essential valley storage to be filled; and velocities increased with little or no regard for how these changes impact others in the floodplain and watershed. Most local governments assume that federal rules and regulations imply a satisfactory standard of care, when, in fact, many federal approaches induce additional flooding and damage. Some traditional floodplain management activities are inequitable, place undue burden on those adversely im-pacted, and are economically unsustainable. The net result is that the nation's flood damage potential is escalating.
The NAI approach recognizes that most floodplain management practices deal with how communities build in flood hazard areas, but generally ignore the creation and transfer of flood impacts onto other properties. Unfortunately, this traditional approach is what most communities have incorporated into their floodplain management ordi-nances to ensure National Flood Insurance Program compliance. Yet, this approach increases liability for community officials and design professionals despite their compliance with "the standards." Some officials are concerned that denial of a permit may lead to property rights lawsuits. In truth, these officials run a greater risk of hav-ing to pay for damage to property adversely impacted by development for which they have previously issued a permit. The NAI approach has officials evaluating whether current minimum standards sufficiently mitigate flood hazards and promotes planning consistent with the management of natural hazards and the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains.
No Adverse Impact
NAI floodplain management offers communities an opportunity to promote responsible, equitable, and legally sound development through community-based decision making. It ensures that the action of one property owner does not adversely impact the property and rights of an-other. Adverse impacts can be measured by an increase in flood peaks, flood stage, flood velocity, and erosion and sedimentation. NAI is not intended as a rigid rule of conduct or regulatory standard. Rather, it is a suggested general management approach for landowners and communities planning and regulating development in watersheds and floodplains to avoid adversely impacting other properties and communities.
NAI communities are better prepared to enhance proactive management initiatives through the use of federal and state programs, foster stakeholder participation at the local level, and increase citizen and community accountability by avoiding increased flood damage on other properties and in other communities. This "good neighbor" approach does not preclude development; it identifies the impact of development and mitigates its adverse effects.
NAI floodplain management can be the default approach for community planning. It can also serve as an overall goal for a community developing a comprehensive watershed and floodplain management program that identifies acceptable levels of impact, specifies appropriate measures to mitigate adverse impacts, and sets forth a plan of action for implementation.
The seven basic building blocks of NAI floodplain management, activities that communities normally under-take year in and year out, are:
- Hazard identification and mapping
- Education and outreach
- Planning
- Regulations and development standards
- Mitigation
- Infrastructure
- Emergency Services
Education and Outreach
Education and outreach help foster support for the adoption and implementation of programs, such as NAI, that exceed federal minimums and are important in all communities. By working with advisory groups and beginning the educational efforts in school systems, communities build public support for common sense approaches to development that will lead to a reduction in flood damage.
Many communities have been active in this area for years. Orange County, Florida, for example, has been utilizing education and outreach initiatives for the past 20 years. The county recognized early on that to be effective in meeting the challenges of a rapidly urbanizing community, county government had to use the resources of its citizens. Only through the public support gained through education and outreach could county goals for stormwater and floodplain management be achieved.
A sampling of the activities utilized by Orange County to distribute information about its programs for stormwater and floodplain management includes:
- Meet the county days at a local mall;
- Community conference days featuring one-hour seminars;
- Earth Day celebrations at elementary and middle schools;
- Engineers Day, to target high school students;
- Seminars for the engineering community conducted by the Stormwater Management Division;
- Major projects undertaken in cooperation with the local Water Management District; and
- Outreach activities targeted at special interest groups.
outreach are recognized as very important activities by other governing bodies, too. For example, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) is responsible not only for the collection and treatment of wastewater, but also for flood control for 28 municipalities encompassing six major watersheds in and around Mil-waukee, Wisconsin. MMSD outreach activities include:
- Creation of stakeholder groups to provide input into the planning, design, and construction of projects;
- Stakeholder participation in meetings with community representatives;
- Creation of a Citizens Advisory Council to provide goals and objectives for the 2020 planning process
- Collaboration with Milwaukee Public Schools to de-velop an environmental education curriculum focusing on water quality and floodplain management; and
- Development of educational videos and CDs on flood-ing and flood prevention for homeowners.
Each of these activities helps build citizen support that enables the MMSD to undertake innovative solutions to flooding-solutions they might otherwise be unable to initiate.
ASFPM is preparing a publication comprising a series of case studies that demonstrate how the seven building blocks are being employed by large and small communities across the nation. Each of the featured communities advocates a vibrant education and outreach program as essential to the development and maintenance of strong public support for NAI floodplain management activities.
Larry Larson
Mark Riebau
Association of State Floodplain Managers