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<br />CHAPTER I <br /> <br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WITH FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS <br /> <br />Average annual flood losses have continued to increase in <br />the United States during the last forty years. A Federal in- <br />vestment of $10 billion in structural flood control works (levees, <br />channel improvements, multipurpose reservoirs, etc.) had not <br />achieved a reduction. In 1975 the Water Resources Council esti- <br />mated total average annual flood damages in 1975 at $3.6 billion, <br />$1.2 billion of which were urban flood losses.l <br /> <br />Escalating flood losses have made it increasingly evident <br />that a national effort that relied solely on structural measures <br />to reduce flood losses was inadequate. A unified program that <br />employed the full range of floodplain management measures in- <br />cluding floodplain regulations was deemed necessary. Federal <br />initiatives in a unified program include: the National Flood <br />Insurance Program (NFIP); the Corps of Engineers regulations <br />ER-1120-2-ll7 with its emphasis on floodplain management; Section <br />73 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1974 requiring non- <br />structural considerations; Section 406 of the Disaster Relief <br />Act of 1974, stating communities must take certain flood damage <br />mitigation actions as a prerequisite for Federal disaster assis- <br /> <br />lWater Resources Council, Estimated Flood Damages, 1975- <br />2000-Appendix B: Nationwide Report (Washington, D.C.: Water Re- <br />sources Council, 1977) p. 2. The reported 1977 figure for <br />national average annual losses is $3.8 billion. Using the method <br />of adjustment adopted in this study, the figure is deflated to <br />$3.6 billion in 1975. <br /> <br />-1- <br />