FLOOD05009

• County: Statewide
• Community: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Multi-Objective Planning Process for Mitigating Natural Disasters
• Date: 1/1/1994
• Prepared For: FEMA
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Mitigation/Flood Warning/Watershed Restoration

PRESS RELEASE FOR

WEEK OF WORKSHOP

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY - REGIONVlIl
Denver Federal Center, Building 710
Denver, Colorado 80225

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 1994

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Ed Conley, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Janelle Toman, State of South Dakota
Duane Holmes, National Park Service

[phone]
[phone]
[phone]

PUBLIC ENCOURAGED TO PARTICIPATE IN RIVER BASI!\' PLAN VIA PUBLIC RADIO

DENVER, CO - The Vermillion River Basin Planning Workshop, taking place this week in Parker, South Dakota, will feature
a radio call-in show in which the public may offer questions and comments'to participating officials. Workshop team leaders
will present their proposals for public review in front of a studio audience composed of the general public, local decisionmak-
ers and interest groups. The show will be broadcast Wednesday, June 22, at 7:00 P.M. on th~ South Dakota Public Radio Network.
A "1-800 line" will be provided for listener comments during the broadcast.
"People are welcome to be a part of the studio audience or they can participate from the comfort of their own homes;' said
Duane Holmes, workshop coordinator from the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistarice Program of the National Park
Service. Tbe radio show will be broadcast from the Jeschke Fine Arts Center Auditorium, 1501 S. Prairie Avenue, on the cam-'
pus of Sioux Falls College. "This is a unique opportunity to develop a plan for the whole basin based on the interests and needs
expressed by the local citizenry. To base a plan of this magnitude on the local interest requires that everybody'in the area with
concerns for the future of the basin tell us what they want;' Holmes said.
"We want the public to get involved in the planning as much as possible;' said Sherryl Zahn, Hazard Mitigation Officer for
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "The radio call-in show provides a forum for the most thorough public
involvement."
The workshop, which includes over 70 governmental agencies) organizations and technical experts, aims to implement pro-
grams that will not only minimize 'property damage and danger to humans, but also address other factors affected by flooding
cycles, such as wildlife habitats and recreational and cultural values of the basin.
"The South Dakota Division of Emergency Management, FEMA, and the Park Service were exploring wa)'s to plan for
reducing losses caused by floods when we received a request for such assistance from the Turner/Lincoln/Clay Water Project
District. From that request and several months of planning, the workshop has finally come 10 fruition;' said Zahn.

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