<br />Tuesday, May 19 1:30 - 3:00 PM Track 4 - Stormwater Management - Moderator: Karen Kabbes
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<br />WATERSHED MANAGEMENT AND FLOOD HAZARD REDUCTION
<br />Leni Oman and Sandra Stephens
<br />
<br />Flood damage is increasing in Washington State. In the winter of 1995 - 1996 alone, the State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
<br />obligated approximately $135 million in federal funds for emergency relief work for both state and federally owned lands, The state's
<br />Emergency Management Division (EMD) estimates that the II Presidential disasters in Washington since 1980 have caused close to $258
<br />million in damages to publicly owned facilities covered by federal and state funds; this amount has been matched by nearly $35 million in
<br />local funds. This estimates do not include damages incurred by WSDOT, the Corps of Engineers, the NRCS, or private damages covered
<br />by insurance companies, so it is easy to assume that total disaster costs are twice the EMD estimate. Tllis talk is designed to introduce local,
<br />state, and fuderal officials, consultants, and other interested parties to concepts involved in watershed management strategies, including flood
<br />management issues, The location and design of emergency repair projects are key components of comprehensive watershed management
<br />and flood control. GIS should be used to inventory emergency repair sites so that investments targeted for future flood control and watershed
<br />enhancement can be coordinated with federal emergency repair investments and local watershed management objectives
<br />MULTI-OBJECTIVE FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT: PUSIDNG THE EDGE TO GAIN BENEFITS BEYOND FLOOD
<br />DAMAGE REDUCTION - Mimi Wagner
<br />
<br />Floodplain buyout programs force change in the landscape and create new open space within comrrnmities, The built environment is de-
<br />constructed when floodprone homes and businesses are removed, and this type of de-construction is a rare occurrence in American cities,
<br />These buyout programs, and the ensuing floodplain l1lllIlllgement programs developed by communities, offer an opportunity to claim benefits
<br />beyond flood damage reduction, including social, economic and environmental enhancements. The",: benefits are tremendously rewarding
<br />and important to the community experiencing them, but they are not reached through traditional urban open space planning, There is an
<br />opportunity to remove "default" land cover patterns through floodplain buyout programs. However, many new uses considered within
<br />buyout areas, such as intensive recreation, require the same level of damage and cleanup as the original housing or residential uses, A better
<br />solution is to replace the "default" with alternative - "surrogate" - covers and uses. These "surrogates" include remnants of the natural-
<br />appearing, original floodplain landscapes: riparian forests, wetlands and prairies, "Surrogates" are also extremely valuable - socially - to
<br />the community experiencing them. But they can also be perceived by the urban population as unattractive and abandoned places -- and some
<br />communities may be reluctant to include them in their open space planning, This paper focuses on the processes and strategies for shifting
<br />the attitudes toward adoption of these surrogate ecosystems within the urban framework, and fiuther explores their role in expanding benefits
<br />of traditional floodplain buyout and management prol!fams.
<br />MULTI-JURlSDlCTIONAL COOPERATION IN MULTI-OBJECTIVE FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT: GILBERT,
<br />ARIZONA - Lonnie K. Frost
<br />
<br />The Town of Gilbert is a rapidly developing community in the southeastern portion of the Phoenix metropolitan area. The area has been
<br />actively farmed for over 100 years and all natural drainages have disappeared. The elevated structur,e of the major canals and the railroads
<br />cause the floodplains in this area. The town has participated with the County Flood Control District to build two regional, multi-use
<br />retention basin and park facilities. The cwnulative effects of these, and other facilities, have removed the historic area of town from the 100-
<br />year floodplain and significantly reduced the flood hazard areas. Better flood hazard mapping has provided the drainage ways. These
<br />drainage areas are landscaped and incorporated into the town's trails system and become a multi-functional asset to the community, This
<br />paper will share the town's experiences in partnering with other agencies and developers to accomplish multi-objective floodplain
<br />management.
<br />INTEGRATED STREAM MANAGEMENT PLANNING: FLUVIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY AS AN ORGANIZING
<br />PRINCIPLE FOR MULTI-OBJECTIVE, COMMUNITY-BASED STREAM MA.NAGEMENT - Mark Vian
<br />
<br />The New Y 011<: City Department of Environmental Protection's Stream Management Program is developing a program to protect NY C' s
<br />1600 sq. mile water supply watershed in the Catskill Mountains, It integrates the goals of flood hazard mitigation, stonnwater management,
<br />protection of drinking water supply and quality, and enhancement of fisheries habitat and riparian ecosystem function, using a watershed
<br />scale assessment offluvia! geomorphology and associated hydrology and hydraulics. The Stream Management Program is encouraging
<br />a broad-based consensus for stream stewardship in the watershed, The outreach strategy has included: ]) student internship programs to
<br />conduct geomorphic assessments, 2) technical training workshops in geomorphology for the regulatory and engineering professions, 3)
<br />stream dynamics workshops for heavy equipment operators who perform in-channel work, 4) multi-objective stream management planning
<br />workshops for local planners, and 5) educational programs for the general public. These workshops lay te foundation for the development
<br />of subbasin-level Stream Corridor Management Plans (SCMPs), which prioritize stream restoration projects based on Rosgen' s "natural
<br />channel stability" concepts. The Stream Management Program coordinates the development of the SCMPs, and acts as clearinghouse for
<br />assembling funding from various sources, targeted to diverse management goals, to implement the plans, Community-based monitoring
<br />will be used to assess the effectiveness of stability restoration projects, ensuring that knowledge of e,ffective stream management is rooted
<br />in the community,
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