FLOOD00015

• County: Statewide
• Title: A Unified National Program for Floodplain Management
• Date: 3/1/1986
• Prepared For: US
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Historic FEMA Regulatory Floodplain Information

of natural and beneficial floodplain valuesl (3) a
balanced view that in general promotes consideration of
of uses that minimize or eliminate exposure to flood loss
rather than floodplain development or abandonmentl and
(4) careful consideration of all relevant factors and
the weighing of all reasonable alternatives. The
conceptual framework fills a void previously hindering
consistent articulation of programs functioning at all
levels of government.

Management Strategies and Tools. The means and tools
(Chapter IV) for flood loss reduction are organized
around three strategies directed at modifying (1)
susceptibility to flood damage, (2) the impacts of
flooding, and (3) flooding itself. Each of the means
is comprised of a wide variety of tools that range
from land acquisition, land use and development regula-
tions, and floodproofing, to flood control works.
These tools are evaluated to assist in selection of
the appropriate means to reduce flood losses while
achieving the desired management goals. The array of
means and tools available is deemed generally adequate
for an effective unified national program. It should
also be noted that some of these strategies and tools
operate to protect natural and beneficial floodplain
values.

The means and tools (Chapter V) for reducing loss of
natural floodplain values support four major strate-
gies: (1) avoiding actions that affect adversely the
floodplain whenever there is a practicable alterna-
tivel (2) minimizing the adverse impacts of actions
that affect the floodplainl (3) restoring previously
degraded floodplains to serve their natural functionsl
and (4) preserving those floodplains whose natural
functions are relatively undisturbed. These four
strategies are directed at natural and beneficial
values associated with the water, living, and cultural
resources of floodplains. A variety of examples are
included to provide general guidance in serving this
program goal.

Implementation. Assessment of the development of Fed-
eral programs (Chapter VI) and the institutional
framework for implementing a unified program (Chapter
VII) reveals significant progress since the first
unified program was set forth in 1976. Of major
significance, a minimum national standard for delineating
flood hazard hazard -- the 100 year base flood -- and a
procedure for evaluating flood hazard and minimizing

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