ivy frances, cfm, cem chief, floodplain management and ...ivy frances, cfm, cem chief, floodplain...

Ivy Frances, CFM, CEM

Chief, Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch

FEMA Region One

Where we are Today In recent years we spent billions of dollars on disasters

So many flood

claims have been

paid that the NFIP

is 20 billion

dollars in debt

We have Maps

Building regulations

Mitigation

Flood Insurance

We have Mitigation plans

Recovery plans

Master plans

Comprehensive plans

Where we areSo . . .

With all this disaster relief funding

and all the preparedness, plans and mitigation projects. . .

Where are we

Are our communities

more resilient?

In other words . . . Despite all these efforts, when we look into the next 10,

20 say 50 years - what is the picture you see?

If another disaster struck – would that town or city look the same, worse or better off?

Or can we

envision a future

where flood

waters passes

through town as

a celebration of

renewed life, a cleansing of the floodplain with deposition of woody debris for wildlife and nutrients for the next growing

season? (Can you imagine that!!!)

History

The first theory of geomorphology was devised by the Chinese scientist Shen Kuo (1031-1095 AD).

Around 1884 William Morris Davis devised the geographical cycle or cycle of erosion.

History Early 20th century – scientists begin systematic, direct,

quantitative measurements of the landscape and investigating the scaling of these measurements.

prediction of the past and

future behavior of landscapes

Quantitative geomorphology

emerges

History Luna Leopold

Management of water resources cannot be successful as long as it is naively perceived from an economic and

political standpoint.

History Gilbert White

Father of floodplain

management

Worked on natural hazards, particularly flooding, and the importance of sound water management

GEOMORPHOLOGY

Geomorphology

Let’s get a common understanding of what geomorphology is all about.

Landscape scale Field Observations

Processes Physical Experiments

Dynamics Numerical Modeling

Human influences

Fluvial Geomorphology Bedrock

Sediment transport

Deposition

Human interactions

Coastal Geomorphology Dynamic interface between the ocean and the land

Wave action

Sediment movement

Human impacts

Brief review the development of geomorphology

So that we recognized our history

as floodplain managers

Provides common basis from which we work and associate with each other

Understand that our predecessors overcome the status quo thinking – that with which we have in common

This is our history

It tells a story of courage

Thinking outside the box

Adding the undeniable human factor to its impact on the landscape

Next Steps

So we have history

We have the science

We have the answer!?!?

Healthy urban streams have been

recognized as a fundamental

prerequisite to achieving sustainable

management of our cities and

fulfilling our imperative to maintain

healthy aquatic ecosystems for future

generations.United Nations General Assembly 1987

We reduce damages to increasingly frequent events, while increasing vulnerability to catastrophic events.

Development in floodplains occurs at the expense of safety and efficiency,

Are we there yet? We need to infuse geomorphic elements in our plans

and project designs to gain diversity of aquatic habitat, aka healthy streams

Channel variability

Grade changes

Sediment storage and

movement

Erosion

Are we there yet? We involve biologists,

wildlife scientists, botanists, fishery experts

Not to review projects, but to design, discuss, incubate ideas that then become projects

We move out of our silos

We support each other

We embrace chaos – and become comfortable with being uncomfortable - stand up to the status quo

Are we there yet?

We involve citizens

We educate the public to make informed decisions –not make decisions for them

As Practitioners Use science – geomorphology is not experimental

Educate ourselves and each other

Understand and count ALL the benefits

Use adaptive management – monitor, evaluate and change to

meet success criteria

As Practitioners Have several options available and ready – option A,

option B, option Q . . .

Draw a line in the sand – push the pendulum back, like our floodplain heroes did.

Remain hopeful

Take an action,

a small step, and a

smaller step yet

Mentor a higher schooler, speak at the local science club, write a letter to the editor

If we all take a small action – they will add up

When you grew up what did you want to be?

When I grow up I want to be a floodplain manager!

It ain’t easy Structural solutions are easy:

Visibly solves a problem

Citizen trust structural projects

Non structural solutions are not so easy:

Can’t see good ones (show someone a floodplain reconnection project!)

You Can discourage floodplains that look like a model

With your help and helping each other we can bring geomorphology and other scientific disciplines back to planning, funding and implementation of projects that bring

Questions??????? Contact information:

ivy.frances@fema.dhs.gov