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1. The Flood Task Force proved to be an effective means of providing the public with a coordinated and scientifically sound "flood forecast" on a weekly basis. It afforded on opportunity for affected agencies to share concerns, viewpoints and reach a consensus in their support of the citizens of Colorado. Additionally it provided the opportunity to communicate this support to the public through the media in an easily understood and clearly communicate "one voice". Recommendation: The Flood Task Force should be convened annually and formalized in its support functions bylto the state. products are not available from other sources at this time. These services were provided to and coordinated with Larry Tunnell of the NWS on a daily to weekly basis as needed. This coordination assisted in the presentation of accurate weather guidance provided to the Flood Task Force. It was a sincere pleasure to interact with Larry Tunnell and it proved to be an enlightening interaction. In keeping with the request for brevity in this report I have prepared the following observation and recommendations to the Flood task Force and the State based on my participation with the Flood Task Force: 2. The primary focus of the Flood Task Force was on the 1995 Spring Snowmelt flood threat. It became abundantly clear that the Task Force needed to expand its horizons to include the impacts of thunderstorm and general rain flash flooding which act to compound the flooding threat Recommendation: That the Flood Task Force expand its focus to include thunderstorm flash flooding threat and convene weekly through at least early September. Flash Flooding kills people and contributes annually to state flood losses more than snowmelt. 3. The Flood Task Force provided a basis for the rational/planned pro-active response by agencies to flood forecast and response issues. However no formal state flood warning program exists at this time. Recommendation: That the State of Colorado develop a formal Flood Warning Plan which deals with not only the flooding problems relative to the annual spring snowmelt flooding threat but also the more frequent, lire-Iltre,Helling ilasil [1ooding il1reat which exists from April to October annually. I would like to emphasize that I recently participated on a team which designed the structure and communications components of a Flood Warning System and Plan for the State of Arizona. The motivation for this program came from the disastrous 1993 February Floods in Arizona. It afforded me the opportunity to visit flood warning plans in 10 states and in all cases the need for coordinated flood warning plans were evident. Must we wait in Colorado for d~yastating flooding such as the Big Thompson Flood of 1976 or the 1965 Floods to shock us into action which this Flood Task Force has proved is necessary? I sincerely hope we are smarter than that and will act on the warning just provided to us this Spring!