Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Chapter 1. Reducing Flood Losses and <br />Protecting Floodplain Resources <br /> <br />Pressure to develop in floodplains persists for very <br />simple reasons: waterfronts and riversides are some of <br />the most beautiful and desirable places to live and visit. <br />People want access to these places for recreational <br />purposes and to build permanent or seasonal residences <br />for their families. Communities have it in their interest <br />to foster this access and use for both political and <br />economic reasons. <br />Unfortunately, development by the water can be very <br />destructive to the environment and poses great risk to <br />the safety of people and property. Dramatic measures <br />are often used to prepare land for development in <br />sensitive areas~wetlands and estuaries are filled or <br />channelized, the natural drainage system is "replicated" <br />with less effective man-made channels, vegetation is <br />removed, and beaches and dunes are destroyed and <br />replaced with bulkheads and seawalls. These actions, <br />combined with the effects of covering the ground with <br />buildings, streets, parking lots, and other impervious <br />surfaces, increase stormwater runoff far beyond what <br />the remaining undisturbed areas can handle. The two <br />primary results of such actions are repeated flooding or <br />the constant threat of flooding of developed and <br />undeveloped property, and the degradation of surface <br />water and groundwater. Furthermore, because virtually <br />every developed site is part of a larger riverine or <br />coastal watershed, any modifications that increase <br />runoff or disrupt natural protective systems often <br />increase flooding either downstream or in other parts of <br />the watershed. <br />Sometimes, structural solutions to control flooding <br />(e.g., dikes, darns, channels, and levees) are an option <br />and may be successful. There are numerous instances <br />where their presence has saved many lives and <br />prevented billions of dollars of flood damage. However, <br />flood control structures have encouraged development <br />in some flood prone areas by giving developers, <br />communities, and property owners a false sense of <br />security that the danger of flooding has been removed; <br />too often they learn too late that these areas, despite <br />such structures, are not safe from flood damage. In <br />addition, these structures sometimes fail, causing <br />greater flood losses. For this reason, the term "flood <br /> <br />control" is no longer used by federal agencies. It has <br />been replaced with "flood loss reduction," <br /> <br />THE POLICY BASIS OF MANAGING FLOODS <br />Since the late 1960s, the focus of federal, state, and <br />local floodplain policy has moved from the use of <br />structural measures to redirect flood waters toward the <br />use of a variety of methods to reduce the susceptibility <br />of people and property to flood damage by gelling them <br />out of harm's way. In more recent years, policies have <br />begun to acknowledge the need to proteclthe natural <br />resources and functions of floodplains, specifically for <br />their capacity to manage flood waters as well as their <br />ecological value. <br />There are a range of political, societal, economic, and <br />environmental trends that have precipitated these <br />policy changes. The U.s. population has grown, and a <br /> <br />Figure 1-1. Relevant Reports on <br />Floodplain Management Policy <br /> <br />Floodplain Management in the United States: An <br />Assessment Report. Vols. 1 and 2. Prepared by <br />the Natural Hazards Research and <br />Applications Information Center for the <br />Federal Interagency Floodplain Management <br />Task Force. <br /> <br />Protecting Floodplain Resources, A Guidebook for <br />Communities. Federal Interagency Floodplain <br />Management Task Force, June 1996. <br /> <br />A Unified National Program for Floodplain <br />Management 1994. Federal Interagency <br />Floodplain Management Task Force. <br /> <br />Sharing the Challenge: Floodplain Management into <br />the 21st Century. Report of the Interagency <br />Floodplain Management Revie\v Committee to <br />the Administration Floodplain Management <br />Task Force. June 1994. <br /> <br />3 <br />