Laserfiche WebLink
<br />~ <br /> <br />\ <br />\ <br />\ <br /> <br />I <br />l <br />f <br />I <br /> <br />Chapter 1 <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />Flood losses are a serious national problem. So is the hazardous and environ- <br />mentally disruptive use of floodplains and their related water resources. <br />Although great efforts have been made in the past to make sound use of <br />floodplains, unwise uses and overall losses continue to increase. This upward <br />trend can only be reversed by an aggressive and coordinated program in which all <br />levels of government and the private sector participate. This handbook describes <br />what can be done by local governments, community interest groups and concerned <br />citizens. <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />share of the ~ation's population and <br />wealth. These flood-prone lands, or <br />"floodplains" are found in every state, <br />even in the arid southwest where <br />arroyos and dry streams are subject to <br />flash floods. The unwise use of such <br />lands makes floods--or the threat of <br /> <br />Some seven percent of the <br />Nation's land area is subject to flood- <br />ing. Such areas, located mostly along <br />ri vers, lake shores and seacoasts, <br />contain a disproportionately large <br /> <br /> <br />A part of the destruction by a flash flood In 1972 in Rapid City, South Dakota. <br /> <br />"Elected public officials must give the same attention and priority to their <br />drainage problems as they give to their police and fire problems. In the <br />history of Rapid City, perhaps 35 people have died in fires and another 35 <br />have been killed during the commission of crimes, but in just two hours, 238 <br />died in a flood." Former Mayor Don Barnett <br /> <br />1 <br />