FLOOD03743

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: 25th Annual Celebration Hazards Research and Applications Workshop
• Date: 7/9/2000
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

PPOO-12

Jacquelyn L. Monday .
Natural Hazards Center
Campus Box 482
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0482
[phone]
[e-mail]

COMMUNITY GUIDANCE FOR SUSTAINABLE RECOVERY FROM DISASTER

After a disaster (such as a flood, earthquake, hurricane or tornado), a local jurisdiction can have an
unusual opportunity to take dramatic steps to improve its housing, transportation, land use, hazard
reduction programs, stormwater management, recreation, and other attributes. The community, if it is
wise, will use the long-term recovery period to reconstruct itself in ways that further environmental
quality, economic vitality, quality of life, social equity, and citizen participation--in short to improve its
sustainability as a community. But communities and the experts that advise them need to have guidelines
for how to plan for this sort of "sustainable recovery," make the necessary decisions, and take
appropriate action.

Under a 20-month project begun in January 2000, the Natural Hazards Research and Applications
Information Center, with funding from the Public Entity Risk Institute, will develop and deliver
information and training on sustainable recovery as it pertains to local governments, and thereby
generate expertise on this topic throughout the nation. The project will produce (I) an accessible
database of disaster professionals involved in recovery and sustainability; (2) a guidebook on sustainable .
local recovery, suitable for use in the field or for training; and (3) a pilot training course that is intended
to be repeated in subsequent years after the project is finished. Through this and additional tasks, the
project will begin a continual, long-term process of generating a pool of experts in sustainable disaster
recovery .

We are developing a matrix of sustainability in local disaster recovery. The matrix juxtaposes probable
recovery scenarios (damage to infrastructure; downed utility lines; need for exiensive reconstruction of
damaged housing stock; groundwater contamination, etc. etc.) against the principles of sustainability:

I. Enhance environmental quality
2. Provide for present and future social equity
3. Build economic vitality
. 4. Incorporate disaster resilience
5. Maintain or improve quality of life
6. Use a grass-roots, participatory process

The intersection of the recovery needs with the sustainability principles produces "sustainability recovery
opportunities," which ought to be seized by localities seeking long-term enhancement of their livability,
environrnent, disaster-resilience, economy, and other characteristics. The guidebook and training course
will examine these opportunities in some detail, including how to identifY them, set relevant goals,
obtain financial and technical assistance, generate public support, and build appropriate partnerships
among all stakeholders.

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Questions, comments, and suggestions on all aspects of this project are most welcome. Direct them to
Jacki Monday at the address above.