BOARD00241

• Board Meeting Date: 7/23/2002
• Description: Flood Section - Wild Fire Updates - Flood Hazard Identification
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

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STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board

Department of Natural Resources
1313 Sherman Street, Room 721
Denver I Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.lls

MEMORANDUM

Bill Owens
Governor

TO:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members .
V'
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Larry Lang, Chief, Flood Protection Section 1--

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

GregE, Walcher
Executive Director

FROM:

DATE:

July 8, 2002

Dan McAnliffe
Deputy Director

SUBJECT: Agenda Item 13a. - Wild Fires Update - Flood Hazard Identification
CWCB Meeting July 23-24, 2002 .

Introduction

The drought conditions in Colorado haye made 2002 the State's worst drought and fire season.
Through July 10, 2002, the Colorado State Forest Service has acknowledged that forty-eight (48)
fIres haye occurred-see-attached table and map. Sixteen fires haye been identified as incident eyents
for federal assistance. The federal goyernment is operating under two directiyes - BAER (Burned
Area Emergency Response) Program and the Presidential Disaster Declaration through FEMA. The
U.S Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are in charge of the BAER program actiyities.
Their objectiye is to prepare the BAER watershed restoration reports and implement watershed
recoyery measures, while FEMA is in charge of the Presidential Disaster Declaration (Disaster #
CO. 1492) that.has two mission assignments. These assignments are indiyidual assistance and hazard
technical mitigation assistance.

Discussion

CWCB Flood staff role in Post Fire Recovery: The fire crisis! fire fighting actiyities are
approaching full containment or control (with the exception of the Steuben Burn and new ones after
this writing). Certain response and mitigation tasks and assignments are being directed under federal
agencies. The CWCB staff is a member of the Post Wild Fire Hazard Inter-Agency Group (Group)
chaired by FEMA. FEMA has contracted the Bureau of Reclamation to implement a program that
will address the assignments for "hazard technical mitigation assistance" for the sixteen incident
bum areas. The CWCB Flood Protection Section staff has been an actiye participant of the Group
and will chair the peer review for the watershed hydrology reyiew. The "hazard technical mitigation
assistance" has a number of project assignments under two project schedules - I5-day reports and
45-day reports.

The 15-day reports and maps will deye10p a GIS for all mission assignments and prepare burn area
hazard identification maps. The maps will present major transportation systems, hazard prone
watercourses and debris areas, communities at risk from burn areas, and watersheds and other initial
hazard information. These maps will assist emergency and floodplain managers in their efforts to

Flood Protection. Water Supply Planning and Finance. Stream and Lake Protection
Water Supply Protection. Conservation and Drought Planning