Phoenix Business
Group FEMA PUBLISHES FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT GUIDEBOOK FOR COMMUNITIES WASHINGTON, February 8, 1996-- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has just released a new publication aimed at local officials, citizens, landowners and groups interested in protecting and restoring the natural resources and functions of floodplains. Protecting Floodplain Resources - A Guidebook for Communities focuses on local, grass-roots efforts needed to effectively manage and protect the floodplain environment, including wetlands, wildlife habitats, historic sites and aesthetic amenities. The publication provides planning guidelines that can be used in any of the approximately 20,000 flood-prone communities in the U.S. to ensure that these ecologically productive and environmentally sensitive areas are maintained to carry out the important functions of conveying and storing floodwaters. "Publication of this document is one important element of a major flood mitigation effort, spearheaded by the White House and involving a number of federal agencies," FEMA Director James Lee Witt said. "Our goal is to continue to reduce the human and financial costs of floods affecting our communities." Protecting Floodplain Resources was published under the auspices of the Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task Force, which is chaired by FEMA, in cooperation with the College of Environmental Science and Forestry of the State University of New York at Syracuse. The book is the product of two years of research that included surveying the specific needs and concerns of local officials and private interest groups. Case studies highlight potentially dangerous riverine areas that communities have transformed into community assets, such as parks, through effective hazard mitigation and resource protection measures. These include the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta, Ga.; the Wildcat/San Pablo Creek in Richmond, Calif.; the Blackstone River between Worchester, Mass., and Providence, R.I.; and the Verde River north of Phoenix, Ariz. In his preface to the publication, John McShane, Chair of the Federal Interagency Floodplain Management Task Force, points out that, "floods have caused a greater loss of life and property and disrupted more families and communities in the United States than all other natural hazards combined." McShane goes on to state that flood losses continue to rise despite tens of billions of tax dollars spent on dams, levees, channelization projects and other measures to try to control floodwaters. But now a new floodplain management philosophy has emerged, he says, that emphasizes trying to adapt to the natural phenomena of flooding, such as by maintaining flood hazard areas as open space, and less on trying to control floodwaters: "This will result in long-term economic and environmental benefits as well as enhance the quality of life in your community for this and future generations." Copies of Protecting Floodplain Resources - A Guidebook for Communities can be obtained free of charge by calling the FEMA Distribution Center at: 1-800-480"-2"520 Back to the Information
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