BOARD00273

• Board Meeting Date: 11/20/2000
• Description: CF Section - Special Purpose Accounts and CWCB Flood Emergency Response Fund
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

Proposed Flood Emergency Response Program
by the Colorado Water Conservation Boar~

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Executive Summary

Two recent CWCB initiatives have identified a myriad of unmet needs by local
governments to more adequately address flooding. The first initiative culminated in a
report entitled "Statewide River Rehabilitation and Floodplain Management Needs
Inventory", It solicited input from local government officials in recognizing community
needs for restoring river corridors. The second report, "1999 Colorado Flood Hazard
Mitigation Plan ", identified community flood mitigation needs and sets forth strategies
to implement mitigation recommendations.

The Board has the statutory responsibility to "promote the conservation oj the waters oj e
the State oj Colorado to secure the greatest utilization oj such waters and the utmost
prevention oJfloods" CRS 37-60-106(1),

Over the past twenty-five (25) years, the Board staff has played a major role in five
presidential disaster declarations, In addition, the State and various local governments
have declared numerous local flood disast~rs since 1900, Through the Board's
participation in disaster operations, unmet needs have continued to be identified by local,
state and federal personnel.

The Flood Protection Section of the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) is
proposing an Emergency Response Program which will provide funding for response and
recovery activities following flood disasters, The specific objective of this request is to
develop a comprehensive, annually funded flood emergency program that would allow
the CWCB to provide technical assistance to local governments following a flood
disaster. The activities under this program would compliment but not be in conflict with
services provided by the Colorado Office of Emergency Management (OEM),

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