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<br />The Emergency Watershed Protection Program, in addition to now providing for the voluntary
<br />purchase of long-term easements, will pay 75% of the cost of opening stream channels and clearing
<br />bridges to relieve imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods. Projects must be sponsored
<br />by a political subdivision of a state such as a county or conservation district Most work under this
<br />program is in rural areas and usually contributes to the restoration of cropland in floodplains,
<br />However, now a portion of the funds authorized for this program can be used to purchase permanent
<br />easements (see discussion above).
<br />
<br />The 1996 Farm Bill also authorized a Flood Risk Reduction Program to provide a Iwnp swn payment
<br />to farmers who had fannland with high flood potential, The payment was to equal 95% of the seven-
<br />year market transition payments, and other payments to offset estimated federal outlays on frequently
<br />flooded land, Although they could still use the land in any way they wanted, participating farmers
<br />would have had to agree to forego all future commodity loans, crop insurance, conservation program
<br />payments, and disaster payments, However, this program has not been implemented and funds have
<br />not been appropriated; many in the u.s, Department of Agriculture believed the incentives were not
<br />adequate to make the program a success,
<br />
<br />COASTAL HAZARDS, RESOURCES, AND ISSUES
<br />
<br />During this century, public response to such coastal hazards as flooding, erosion, and hurricanes has
<br />evolved haphazardly in response to particular disasters, Early dependence upon engineered shoreline
<br />protection has been supplemented by building and land use regulations, flood insurance, and beach
<br />nourishment, among other approaches, Yet the situation today, far from being improved, is in fact
<br />more perilous,
<br />
<br />Over the past few decades, the distribution of the U,S, population has shifted, so that now over 50%
<br />live in coastal regions, This has led to the potential for massive loss of life when a major hurricane
<br />strikes a heavily populated area, Even with a few days' warning, a coastal region's infrastructure
<br />(bridges, road capacity, highway elevations, etc,) may well be inadequate to evacuate the nwnber of
<br />people at risk. What is more, ever more intensive coastal development puts more and more high-value
<br />property at risk, so that future disasters are certain to be unprecedentedly costly, Finally, that very
<br />development endangers the coastal resources (dunes, beaches, wetlands, mangroves, etc.) that
<br />attracted people in the first place-resources that, ifleft undisturbed, could provide some measure
<br />of natural protection from coastal storms and other processes,
<br />
<br />Yet there are nwnerous explicit and implicit incentives built into government policies at all levels that
<br />operate to encourage and subsidize coastal development With regard to flooding in particular, there
<br />is a major dichotomy in national policy, namely that nationwide, building is essentially prohibited in
<br />riverine floodways, but in coastal velocity zones (those areas subject not only to high water but also
<br />to the energy of moving waves) even residential buildings are permitted as long as certain
<br />construction standards are met Thus, instead of teaching people that hazardous coastal areas should
<br />not be developed because of the risks from flooding, high-velocity waves, winds, and erosion, we are
<br />instead encouraging development in those areas, Significant shifts are needed in the nation's
<br />approaches to several aspects of coastal hazards,
<br />
<br />COASTAL POPULATIONS AT RISK
<br />
<br />In recognition of the fact that there appears to be no way to slow down the increase in coastal
<br />population, some improvements in emergency evacuation and warning systems have been made.
<br />
<br />Association of State Floodplain Managers
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<br />
<br />National Flood Programs in Review 2000
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