|
Save lives and reduce public exposure to risk |
|
Reduce or prevent damage to public and private property |
|
Reduce adverse environmental or natural resource impacts |
|
Reduce the financial impact on public agencies and society |
The above planning goals describe the overarching purpose for this plan. The objectives below follow describe the general strategies the plan prescribes to achieve these goals. Under each objective in this section are identified areas of risk and vulnerability, and specific actions to be undertaken in pursuit of that objective.
For each prescribed action, a lead agency is identified in bold type. These agencies will bear primary responsibility to carry out the actions prescribed, assisted by the other agencies named in technical support or funding. These recommendations provide the framework for the flood damage reduction element of the comprehensive State Hazard Mitigation Plan.
The recommended mitigating actions are supplemented by detailed discussion in Appendix D, pages IV-1 - IV-23.
1. Enhance coordination of agencies and consistency of flood damage reduction policy.
2. Increase knowledge of flood hazards, flood hazard mitigation approaches and the impacts of land uses, flood damage reduction and repair, and resource management practices on watershed dynamics, fish and wildlife populations, and flood hazards.
3. Reduce vulnerability to flood damage and environmental impacts through coordination with land planning efforts, improved design and construction standards, and programs that address current at-risk development.
4. Strengthen flood preparedness, response, and education.
Enhance coordination of agencies and consistency of flood damage reduction policy.
Reducing flood hazards in Idaho depends upon the cooperative action of federal, state, and local agencies, each of which bear important responsibilities for flood mitigation. By better coordinating the activities and policies of these various agencies, this plan seeks to help each agency focus its resources so that its activities will complement those of other agencies. Improved coordination will also benefit flood mitigation efforts by allowing each agency to benefit through improved access to the special knowledge and resources other agencies may have regarding flood damage reduction.
Further coordination among local and state agencies will help to reduce flood damage. Sharing of knowledge and resources will increase the effectiveness of local jurisdictions which often lack the staff or resources to monitor and implement technical requirements. Communities, including the private sector, can be made more aware that adoption of stronger floodplain management standards can reduce their future property loss and disaster costs.
1-A: The Idaho Department of Water Resources, assisted by the Department of Fish and Game, and Soil and Water Conservation Districts, will work to enhance public and private coordination toward watershed restoration and sound floodplain management.
1-B: The Idaho Department of Water Resources will coordinate efforts to share information, enhance regulatory approaches, and implementation techniques for local governments to enhance floodplain encroachment standards.
1-C: Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services, coordinating with Idaho Department of Water Resources, will assist local government to enhance development permit procedures, toward mitigation and qualification for the National Flood Insurance Program.
1-D: The Idaho Division of Environmental Quality, will work in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Idaho Department of Agriculture and local building officials. These agencies will lead development of a program for hazardous materials inventory and management in relation to the floodplain, and for disposition of hazardous materials before and after a flood. Coordination will include the State Emergency Response Commission, Regional Response Teams, local government and the private sector.
1-E: Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services will lead the development of agreements for defining responsibilities of the various agencies, during future disasters and environmental events. This action will include updating of emergency operations plans and development of an all hazards risk analysis task force, reaching all government levels and Indian Tribes. The Bureau will be assisted by Local Emergency Managers and Tribal Officials.
Increase knowledge of flood hazards, flood hazard mitigation approaches and the impacts of land uses, flood damage reduction and repair, and resource management practices on watershed dynamics, fish and wildlife populations, and flood hazards.
Forest practices, resource management, natural phenomena, and land use all affect flood hazards. By expanding their knowledge of these forces and their affect on flood hazards, Idaho State agencies can more effectively act upon or respond to these forces. Additionally, a better understanding of these forces will help those interested in flood mitigation to work with individuals or organizations whose activities affect flood hazards in one way or another.
Flood mitigation is dependent on up-to-date information including data on flooding events, hydrology, structural and economic impact.
2-A: Idaho Department of Water Resources will lead an effort to gather data on flooding events and hydrology, toward developing long-term mitigation plans for affected watersheds. This effort will include support from the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, Idaho Geological Survey, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Natural Resource Conservation Service, National Weather Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Lands.
2-B: The Idaho Department of Water Resources will evaluate existing hydrologic monitoring networks for their adequacy for floodplain management. The Department will work to expand networks where needed, including use by emergency response agencies. In this evaluation and enhancement the Department will call on the support of the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services, Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, Idaho Geological Survey, Natural Resource Conservation Service, National Weather Service, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Lands.
2-C: The Idaho Department of Lands will lead a program to inventory slope failures and identification of problem areas regarding potential flood hazard. The Department will coordinate with the U.S. and Idaho Geological Surveys and the Natural Resource Conservation Service in the inventory program, and in encouragement of local governments to include slope hazard areas in zoning restrictions.
2-D: The State Emergency Response Commission will coordinate development of a hazardous materials inventory, with assistance from local governments and the Idaho Department of Agriculture.
Reduce vulnerability to flood damage and environmental impacts through coordination with land planning efforts, improved design and construction standards, and programs that address current at-risk development.
Coordinated efforts among agencies can increase effectiveness in addressing issues such as protection of alluvial fans, upstream drainage and surface runoff, stream clearance, and sediment sources, stabilization of disturbed reaches, levee management and maintenance, zoning and construction procedures in and near the floodplain.
3-A: The Idaho Department of Lands will lead a program to identify upstream sediment sources, to plan for alleviation of downstream flooding. This program will seek assistance from the Idaho Department of Water Resources, Idaho Fish and Game, and Transportation Departments and will pursue improved road drainage, through support of improved culvert and stream crossing standards.
3-B: The Idaho Department of Water Resources will coordinate a program to assist stream clearance and maintenance. This effort will expand landowner and agency awareness of Best Management Practices for implementing agricultural, mining and forest practices for maintaining stream clearance compatible with fish and wildlife habitat. This program will be coordinated with Idaho Departments of Fish and Game, Transportation, and Lands, and the U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management.
3-C: Idaho Department of Water Resources will lead a program for stabilization of disturbed reaches. This action will address the destabilizing influence of bull-dozing, re-channeling, and other development impacts, and their effects on downstream sedimentation. The program will identify unstable stream channels and pursue appropriate channel rehabilitation projects. The Department will coordinate with Idaho Fish and Game, the Corps of Engineers and Natural Resource Conservation Service.
3-D: Idaho Department of Water Resources will coordinate an effort, including the Corps of Engineers and U.S. Geological Survey, for protection of alluvial fans.
3-E: Idaho Department of Water Resources will seek the assistance of the Corps of Engineers to evaluate and implement appropriate levee maintenance and management.
Without adequate flood warning systems, flood response planning, and preparedness, Idaho State risks increased losses of life and property. Such readiness translates into the ability to address the hazards flooding presents. Equally important to protection of life and property, is public awareness of the risks flooding presents. A public which understands flood hazards is less likely to locate property in areas of high flood hazard or engage in hazardous activities which put life at risk.
By enhancing the state's preparedness to respond to flooding, and enhancing public awareness of flood hazards, Idaho State will better protect lives and property from flood hazards.
4-A: Idaho Department of Water Resources, in coordination with the Bureau of Disaster Services and other agencies will work to promote awareness by local government of their full range of alternatives regarding regulatory and enforcement ability, including stronger floodplain management standards.
4-B: Department of Water Resources will undertake a program to encourage local ordinances which meet or exceed the National Flood Insurance Program minimum requirements for new construction.
4-C: Bureau of Disaster Services is coordinating a program to make available emergency assistance information to local communities.
This plan works to coordinate a reduction in flood damages throughout Idaho State. Regrettably, neither this plan, nor any other, will eliminate flood damages in our state. In fact, given the continued growth in our state, it is likely that flood damages will increase, even if this plan is carried out in good faith.
What this plan will do for the State of Idaho is provide a tool to insure that flood damages will be minimized to the greatest extent possible. Nonstructural measures can help mitigate the impact of floods. They cannot however, alter the fundamental laws of physics.
In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor following the Mississippi flood of 1993, Dick DiBuono, a hydrologist with the United States Army Corps of Engineers admonishes citizens that they cannot depend upon mitigation efforts to keep floods out of floodplains in the Midwest. AEverybody has to understand that wetland restoration and land-use conservation are not going to protect people from floods of great magnitude . . . even if you restored a couple of million acres of wetland in the Midwest [it] would happen again . . . the great volume of water simply exceeds the capacity of those natural storage areas to control it . . . smaller floods can be mitigated, but man has to learn to position himself wisely in flood plains.
As long as people are in flood plains, they will still be at risk. The flood damage reduction strategies and measures listed in this plan will act to reduce the damages floods will inflict upon the citizens of the State of Idaho. However, floods will remain a part of life in our state. The philosophy, actions and measures detailed in this plan will help to insure that these floods inflict the minimum possible amount of damage.
This plan is a working document subject to continual change based on our state's continual growth in knowledge and experience relating to addressing flood hazards. As floods occur and new information becomes available, the Bureau of Disaster Services will update this plan. Please refer comments regarding this plan and the measures it prescribes to the Idaho State Bureau of Disaster Services, care of:
Stephen Weiser, State Mitigation Coordinator
Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services