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<br />Se ction Two <br /> <br />Floodplain Management Forum Themes <br /> <br />The Floodplain Management Forum brought together a diverse group of individuals with <br />expertise in floodplain management. The goal of this Forum was to identify strategies to protect <br />and :'estore our floodplains, improve flood hazard identification, reduce flood risks, and <br />encourage communities to foster sustainable development. <br /> <br />Ead participant submitted a written statement and briefly articulated suggestions on the future <br />of floodplain management. This section of the report captures the major themes that were <br />prescmted by the participants during the Forum and in the participant's written statements. The <br />therr es presented below do not necessarily represent the views of all the participants at the <br />Forum or the views ofFEMA. <br /> <br />1. j'hift the focus from flood-loss reduction to the creation of sustainable communities and <br />t,~e protection of the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains. <br /> <br />A. Floodplain management must move beyond the narrow focus of flood-loss reduction and <br />begin to focus on coordinated, multiobjective, watershed-based approaches that include <br />the protection and restoration of the natural and beneficial functions of floodplains. <br /> <br />E.. Consider a no-adverse-impact approach to floodplain development. This means that no <br />land use development in the watershed could adversely impact other property upstream <br />or downstream, by increasing either flood elevations or flood velocities. The only <br />exceptions would be based on requiring comprehensive local plans that ensure that a1l <br />potential adverse impacts would be properly mitigated to avoid current and future flood <br />damage. <br /> <br />2. Continue to improve coordination among Federal agencies and create aframeworkfor <br />more effective Federal, Stole, tribal, and local coordination offloodplain management <br /> <br />Federal agencies must improve communication and coordination so that there is a unified <br />e:Iort to achieve the shared goal of natural resource protection and restoration. <br /> <br />A. Reinstate the Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task Force, which could <br />serve as a coordinating entity for developing comprehensive strategies and improved <br />Federal policies. <br /> <br />B. Update the Floodplain Management Executive Order 11988, which establishes unified <br />Federal policy regarding the protection of floodplains, to ensure that Federal agencies' <br />actions do not adversely impa,.' floodplains. <br /> <br />C. Continue to develop interageE. j Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to encourage <br />uniform implementation of policies among Federal agencies. <br /> <br />Floodplain Management Forom <br /> <br />6 <br />