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001170 C. Floodplain Managers Most floodplain management litera- ture addresses the question of "how" more than "who." Responsibility is vaguely assigned to "the public" for carrying out floodplain management measures. But this conveniently over- looks the complex nature of private and public environmental decision-making in the United States. To paraphrase Pogo, "The public is us." . As noted earlier, rivers form bound- aries between many units of private ownership and public jurisdiction. Rivers also flow across boundaries from one unit into another. All of these various entities-national, state, county, munic- ipal, and private-collectively are the public. Authority to manage floodplains is shared by all of them. Viewed another way, no single private or public entity has complete authority to cope with its Own flood problem. Coordination among management units is essential. Before turning to the ways in which coordination may be achieved, let us briefly review the powers and character- istics of each type of manager. 1. The Private Owner In the United States, the private land- owner is a key figure in the floodplain management process. Owners have great discretion over the use of their land. Furthermore, under the riparian doctrine, owners of land next to surface waters have certain rights as to the use of the shore line and water. Landowners have great freedom to determine whether, how, and when to develop their prop- erties. The owner's free will is con- strained only by public health, safety, and welfare considerations. This freedom of the private landowner is, of course, a major concern in the floodplain context. Floodplain management is most effec- tive when the landowner is cooperative; prolonged disputes or litigation to up- hold floodplain management objectives are expensive. Probably the best way to encourage private responsibility is to fully inform the owner about the nature and extent of the flood hazard. Thus, floodplain management to a great extent involves education and public awareness. The property owner or private investor must realize respect for floods or other natural hazards is essential to wise decision-making. 2. Municipalities The rr.unicipality (city, town, incor- porated village) is the workhorse of land use regulation in the United States. Through state enabling acts, municipali- ties have the authority to plan and regu- late land use within their jurisdictions. They also are vested with authority to acquire land through purchase, gift, or eminent domain for a variety of uses- parks, conservation areas, school sites, etc., provided that such acquisition is for a public purpose. Municipalities thus have the power to guide development away from floodplains. Until recently, however, few had used this power ef- fectively. Too often, floodplains were regarded as convenient sites for indus- try, housing, or shopping centers. The short-run gains in employment and taxes have dictated these choices, and the long-run costs of catastrophic flood losses were often ignored. Most municipalities are not set up to assume major responsibility in flood- plain management by themselves. Typi- cally, they are small in area and exercise authority only over a small portion of a total watershed or floodplain. Their boundaries are likely to be shaped er- ratically and may be altered by land annexation (other than in certain north- eastern states, where municipal bound- aries are static). Municipalities often allocate little or no money for planning services. Finally, the politics of local governments can often work against floodplain management. Nevertheless, about 17,000 local gov- ernments (including counties) have en- rolled in the National Flood Insurance Program. Of these, about 12,000 are in the "emergency program, .. which does not yet require significant management regulations. The remainder, however, have entered the "regular program," which requires adoption and enforce- ment of floodplain zoning and related measures based on technical engineering data provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Progress in local floodplain manage- ment is less than one would desire. A small watershed typically includes com- munities with different levels of regula- 16