<br />. Specific information about, and techniques for, sustainable floodplain management need to be
<br />catalogued, documented, and built into the appropriate curricula of universities, elementary and
<br />secondary schools, training facilities, and programs for the continuing education of professionals.
<br />
<br />. Programs such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Project Impact, which fosters
<br />the development of model "disaster-resistant" communities through public-private partnerships,
<br />citizen involvement, comprehensive planning, and a multi-hazard and multi-purpose approach to
<br />mitigation, should be expanded and encouraged.
<br />
<br />COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY,
<br />DISASTER RESILIENCE, AND MITIGATION
<br />
<br />A local or regional comprehensive plan (sometimes called a master plan, and distinct from a
<br />floodplain management plan) is a collection of policies on how the community or region will grow
<br />and change in the future, and should also be a blueprint for how it can achieve and maintain
<br />sustainability and disaster resiliency, The plan is the result of a process that involves many local
<br />departments, business people, landowners, developers, and citizens, Out of the process emerge
<br />policies that reflect local values and concerns. Comprehensive plans should include elements that deal
<br />with land use, transportation, housing, community facilities, economic development, education,
<br />historic preservation, the environment, and other issues. Floodplain management policies should be
<br />part of the overall decisionmaking process; they may be included in the plan's environmental element
<br />and cross-referenced to sections on land use, community facilities, and public infrastructure.
<br />
<br />Comprehensive planning, zoning, and subdivision control are a local government's primary land use
<br />tools, They can serve as a foundation for the community to address floodplain development concerns,
<br />Floodplain development standards in the form of a community's zoning ordinances, subdivision
<br />regulations, building and health codes, and special purpose ordinances build on that foundation by
<br />providing for mitigation measures that reduce or prevent flood damage. For example, if the
<br />community policy is to avoid development in the floodplain, the plan should indicate that major
<br />investments in new roads and utilities will not be made in those areas, If, through the planning
<br />process, the community had decided to convert portions of the floodplain to recreational use or open
<br />space, that too, should be stipulated in the comprehensive plan.
<br />
<br />In this time of competition for scarce economic development dollars, disaster-resistant communities
<br />have an advantage in attracting and sustaining business, Integrating mitigation into community
<br />planning, development, and decisionmaking is an important step towards building that disaster
<br />resiliency and overall sustainability, The International City/County Management Association is
<br />forming the Natural Hazard Mitigation Program to foster such communities. Similar efforts have been
<br />led by the ASFPM, the American Planning Association, the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
<br />the Institute for Business and Horne Safety, and others.
<br />
<br />. Localities should adopt plans that use the sustainability approach,
<br />
<br />IMPROVING MITIGATION
<br />
<br />The ASFPM historically has promoted nonstructural flood loss reduction measures. Their
<br />effectiveness has been emphasized in part because of the imbalance between structural and
<br />nonstructural techniques in federal and state programs and policy, For example, a large number of
<br />
<br />Association of State Floodplain Managers
<br />
<br />-6-
<br />
<br />National Flood Programs in Review 2000
<br />
|