THE HIGH
WATER MARK
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 2019 - Volume 29, Issue 4
THE HIGH
WATER MARK The Newsletter of the Floodplain Management Association November 2019 - Volume 29, Issue 4 Mission: To promote the common interest in reducing flood losses and to encourage the protection and enhancement of natural floodplain values.
Alex Yescas - Chair HDR Engineering, Inc. 858-712-8283
Darren Suen - Director Central Valley Flood Protection Board 916-574-0609
Jeremy Lancaster - Advisor California Geological Survey 916-445-1825
Mike Nowlan - Vice Chair Wood Rodgers, Inc. 916-326-5277
Millicent Cowley-Crawford - Director Woodard and Curran 415-321-3421
Salomon Miranda - Advisor California DWR 818-549-2347
Connie Perkins - Gutkowsky - Secretary Central Valley Flood Protection Board 916-480-5386
Brian Walker - Director City of Roseville 916- 746-1349
Alan Haynes - Advisor NOAA 916-979-3056
Brent Siemer - Treasurer City of Simi Valley, DPW 805-583-6805
Kyle Gallup - Director Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District 951-955-1265
Eric Simmons - Advisor FEMA Region IX 510-627-7029
Abigail Mayrena - Director Clark County RFCD 702-685-0000 John Moynier - Director Michael Baker International 949-855-5759 Vince Geronimo - Director Mead and Hunt 916-993-4606 Brian Brown - Director City of West Sacramento 916-617-4559
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George Booth - Past Chair Sacramento County 916-874-6484 Kelly Soule - Advisor California DWR 916-574-1205 Jose Lara - Advisor California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) 916-845-8883
Carol Tyau-Beam - Advisor Hawaii DLNR 808-587-0267 Bunny Bishop - Advisor Nevada DWR 775-684-2834 Jeanne Ruefer - Advisor HWC INC 775-722-7395 Mary Seits - Executive Director Floodplain Management Association 760-936-3676
CONTENT
3
A Note From The Chair
4-5
Federal/ National News
6
State News
8-9
Meet the Board
11
Call for Articles
12
FMA Board Agency Report NOAA/NWS
13
Inaugural COL Carl Morrison Collaborative Leadership Award
14 - 16
2019 Annual Conference Highlights in Brief
17-21
Thank You to Our Conference Sponsors
22
FMA NEWS
A NOTE FROM THE CHAIR By Alex Yescas This Seat is Taken! Fellow floodplain managers, thank you for your votes in electing me as the new Chair of the Floodplain Management Association. It is an honor to work with the members of this great organization—I have been part of FMA for 15 years, and have served on the Board of Directors for 10 of those years. I have seen the association grow across all regions and I’m glad to be at the helm during our continued expansion. My immediate plans are to accelerate two of FMA’s Key Goals: promote leadership in floodplain management and strengthen partnerships with agencies, academia, and other associations. As you may know, our most important committee opportunities include the emerging professionals, coastal, membership, mapping and modeling, conference, and luncheons committees. Volunteering on these and other committees is a great way to step into a leadership role, expand your floodplain association network, and stay engaged on the latest technologies and emerging flood-related policy. For example, this month’s Bay Area luncheon featured Frank Mansell of FEMA presenting the FEMA Flood Risk Communication Toolkit and videos. These resources were developed by FEMA to empower community officials to more effectively communicate with the public about flood risk and help residents and other stakeholders become full partners in increasing resilience. These FMA events are your chance to meet industry leaders and become industry leaders. Our Vision as an association is to be the premier voice for advancing and promoting flood safety in California, Nevada, and Hawaii, as well as environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable use of floodplains. I urge all our members to embrace our Vision and spread the word to the agencies and organizations you interact with on a regular basis. New Board Appointees We have several FMA members that were elected to the Board of Directors during our last election cycle. I would like to welcome Millicent Cowley-Crawford of Woodard and Curran to the Board who will be serving as our new Northern Director of the Private Sector. Brian
FMA NEWS
Walker of the City of Roseville will serve as our new Northern Director of the Public Sector. Kyle Gallup of Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District will serve as our new Southern Director of the Public Sector. Kelly Soule of the California Department of Water Resources will serve as an Advisor to the Board of Directors. As always, FMA members are welcome to nominate themselves or other members to serve on the Board and help craft the further growth of our association. Floodplain Challenge Spotlight: Post-Wildfire Assessments and Homeless Encampments We face many challenges in our region, from debrisladen flows following wildfires to extreme weather events that really go beyond the written standards. These challenges have caused many agencies to re-evaluate how they approach certain watersheds when conducting studies and restricting development from taking place in hazardous areas. One of the ways that we can all help overcome these challenges is to carefully assess the risks within our watersheds. If even one life is at risk in the watershed, we must strive to mitigate that risk. We have the power to enforce, and we have the power to make change happen. I have been involved with several post-wildfire flood assessments—the mitigation required can be incredibly difficult, because there are currently very few best practices that provide long-term solutions. However, we can work together to support each other in formulating ways to recover and provide these long-term solutions. We have a great network of amazing members that can lend their expertise to help you overcome your organization’s most challenging problems. As an association, we need to be helping each other, providing vital knowledge from our experiences on issues such as post-wildfire flooding and climate change resilience. At our last FMA conference in San Diego, a consistent theme discussed amongst the various presentations was looking at multi-beneficial solutions to mitigate for not only flooding, but also other watershed challenges, such as homeless encampments. This is a sensitive subject, but homeless encampments have strained all of our resources across California, Nevada, Hawaii, as well as the rest of
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the country. A July 2019 article in Bloomberg Environment noted that damage from homeless encampments along Sacramento’s levees are affecting public safety in one of the most flood-prone regions of the United States. Diverting resources to address homeless encampments has shifted watershed priorities and has also dramatically drawn down on agency budgets. This will be long-term challenge that we must address now. Once again, thank you for the opportunity to lead FMA as your Board Chair. Famed physicist/chemist Marie Curie perfectly summarized how I hope you feel about your role in floodplain management: “It is my earnest desire that some of you should carry on this scientific work and keep for your ambition the determination to make a permanent contribution to science.” I hope that everyone has a great holiday season coming up—stay safe and be happy!
SAVE THE DATE Southwest Extreme Precipitation Symposium (SWEPSYM) April 2, 2020 Doubletree by Hilton – Tempe, AZ California Extreme Precipitation Symposium (CEPSYM) June 30, 2020 ARC Conference Center – UC Davis – Davis, CA Floodplain Management Association Annual Conference September 8-11, 2020 Hyatt Regency - Sacramento, CA
With offices throughout California, Hawaii and Nevada, AECOM is ready to meet your floodplain, mitigation and resilience needs. aecom.com
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FEDERAL/NATIONAL NEWS For an update of the latest disaster declarations CLICK HERE
For information on Flood Insurance Reform – Rates and Refunds CLICK HERE
Advisor Update • Learn more about the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 (DRRA) and track FEMA’s IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS on individual provisions. • Within DRRA, Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) grants are being replaced by a new program called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC). BRIC will provide new opportunities by establishing a more reliable stream of funding based on a 6% set aside on annual disaster relief expenditures. FEMA’s application period for Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) and PDM grants for 2018 closed with 70 applications in Region IX (California, Nevada, Hawaii and Arizona). A total of $395.2 million is available nationwide for these two competitive grant programs. Subapplicants for these mitigation grants must have a FEMA-approved mitigation plan. • Those wanting regular updates on mitigation from FEMA are encouraged to subscribe to the Mitigation Minute weekly emails by visiting Hazard Mitigation Assistance and selecting “Subscribe to HMA communications.” • The National Flood Insurance Program and federal budget are currently authorized until November 21, 2019.
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Washington FEMA is focused on building a culture of preparedness by closing the insurance gap so that individuals and communities recover faster and more fully after a natural disaster. Earlier this year, FEMA announced Risk Rating 2.0 as an initiative to deliver flood insurance rates that people trust, value, and are less complex to navigate. Knowing the true risk of one’s property is critical to ensure adequate insurance coverage and claim payments after a flood, as well as to inform appropriate mitigation measures property owners can take to ultimately reduce their risk. While the agency initially announced that new rates for all single-family homes would go into effect nationwide on October 1, 2020, some additional time is required to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the proposed rating structure so as to protect policyholders and minimize any unintentional negative effects of the transition. Therefore, FEMA decided to defer the implementation of Risk Rating 2.0 by one year to October 1, 2021. Additionally, this extension allows for all National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policies – including, single-family homes, multi-unit and commercial properties – to changeover to the new rating system at one time instead of a phased approach, as originally proposed. Over the course of the next year, FEMA will continue to actively engage with Congress and other key stakeholders to ensure transparency and visibility as we work to transform the NFIP.
WATER RESOURCES ENGINEERING
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CLIENTS INCLUDE: US Army Corps of Engineers Nat’l Flood Insurance Program Participating Communities Federal Emergency Management Agency California Department of Water Resources Tennessee Valley Authority
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Site Specific PMP Studies Stream Restoration Water Quality & Contaminant Transport Modeling Groundwater Dam Breach Inundation Mapping & Emergency Action Plans Training and Technical Support
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(858) 487-9378 mteal@westconsultants.com
DAVID CURTIS, PH.D.
(916) 932-7402 dcurtis@westconsultants.com
www.westconsultants.com FMA NEWS
STATE NEWS California 1. The Many Faces of Flooding in California
3. Butte County and DWR Reach Settlement on Road Repairs Following Oroville Spillways Incident
Flooding is a major issue across California – every county has experienced a federally declared flood disaster in the past 20 years. To help Californians stay prepared this flood season, DWR is participating in the eighth annual California Flood Preparedness Week from October 19 – 26, 2019.
Butte County and DWR announced today that they have settled a lawsuit filed by Butte County for roadway damage resulting from the Oroville Spillways Incident in February 2017.
FULL STORY
4. “Extreme Weather” Focus of DWR Climate Change Summit
2. Castaic Dam Modernization Program Begins: DWR Conducts Stream Release Structure Investigation As part of a statewide effort to reduce seismic and hydrologic risk to SWP facilities, DWR's Castaic Dam Modernization Program begins this week with an assessment of a stream release structure at Castaic Dam in Los Angeles County. FULL STORY
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FULL STORY
“Mother nature is changing fast, and we need to change along with her,” California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot told an audience of climate scientists, water managers, and other stakeholders at a climate change conference on September 17 in Sacramento. FULL STORY
All Things Stormwater 9
5. Water Year Begins with Robust Water Storage California begins a new water year today with significantly more water in storage than the previous year thanks to above-average snow and precipitation. FULL STORY
Hawaii For archived Wai Halana Newsletters CLICK HERE
For the new transformed flood information platform from Hawaii visit their exciting new weekly blog HERE
Nevada Outreach The sixth annual Nevada Flood Awareness Week is from November 16 – 22, 2019. The goal of Nevada Flood Awareness Week is to create flood resilient communities in Nevada and increase flood awareness throughout the state. Flood awareness and preparedness is raised through the coordination of local outreach events, a media campaign, and the NEVADAFLOODS.ORG website. If you would like to know about this year’s Nevada Flood Awareness Week events, please visit NEVADAFLOODS.ORG for more information.
Stormwater Design • Hydrology & Hydraulics Flood Hazard Mitigation • Watershed Planning
Q3 Consulting Q3consulting.net
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MEET THE BOARD BRIAN WALKER Brian Walker has twenty-five progressive years of professional experience in varied aspects of civil engineering, project management, and construction management with an emphasis in floodplain management, water resources, planning, and environmental engineering. In 2005, he obtained his California Professional Civil Engineers license and became a Certified Floodplain Manager in 2012. Brian began his career working in the private sector involved in water, wastewater, and stormwater design projects. During this time, he was on several engineering NGO teams designing projects in Haiti and Guatemala. He transitioned to water resources in 2005 as a Project Engineer on the project management team managing a regional water supply design project – the Freeport Regional Water Project Intake Facilities for EBMUD and Sacramento County. This was EBMUD’s first successful droughtmitigation project after decades of failure.
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Brian then worked for the California Dept. of Water Resources (DWR) Division of Flood Management (DFM) for nearly a decade. His DFM experience includes contributing to the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan Update, being Project Engineer on annual Flood Risk Notice (to 400K+ recipients), being a nonstructural flood mitigation measure advocate, and being activated in the field as a flood emergency response team Operations Section Division Supervisor during several high water events. FEMA was successful in integrating flood-resistant provisions into the International Building Codes in 2009. Brian was honored being the DWR Project Engineer (& manager) on the California Building Standards Code Update Project beginning in ‘08. This was the first large-scale higher-than-FEMA standards building code project in the nation, developing California Building Code updates to improve public safety and reduce building damage applying within a California’s Central Valley 200-year floodplain. For the last 2- ½ years, Brian has been managing the floodplain for the nation’s only CRS Class 1 community, the City of Roseville, California, as its Floodplain Manager, CRS Coordinator & Senior Engineer. In this role, Brian administers City, state, and federal regulations with private and public entities as they develop in or near the flood hazard zone, including in expanding regions of Roseville. Brian assists the City’s Building and Planning divisions as its floodplain management expert. Administering Roseville’s Flood Damage Prevention ordinance and other flood-related regulations is somewhat complex as Roseville’s flood hazard zones include the SFHA, DWR’s ULOP 200-year floodplain, and the City’s higherstandard 100-year floodplain with fully built-out conditions. As Roseville’s CRS Coordinator, and in spite of increasing budgetary constraints, Brian is successfully bringing Roseville through another CRS reverification audit as a Class 1 community. Brian became a FMA Board of Director in 2019 and looks forward working with and serving the FMA community in a greater capacity. Brian lives in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with his family. In his free-time, you’ll likely find him mountain biking (or making his property defensible, hoping to not have home owner’s insurance dropped again!).
tetratech.com FMA NEWS
CALL FOR ARTICLES! The FMA Newsletter welcomes the input of its members and now our extended family of readership to contribute to the conversation! Keep the great articles coming! We need to hear from all of you. There’s always room for more to join the ranks of published authors. Showcase your programs, projects, tools, policies, regulations or ideas to hundreds of floodplain management professionals throughout the U.S.! Articles must be submitted in Word format to Mary.Seits@Floodplain.org and may contain 2-3 small pictures. Preferred length is less than 850 words.
For more details call (760) 936-3676.
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FMA BOARD AGENCY REPORT - NOAA/NWS
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Alan Haynes
Changes to modeled hydrologic basins and flood forecast points – Each dry season the California
Nevada River Forecast Center (CNRFC) makes configuration changes to either improve its hydrologic modeling or to account for changing impacts related to river stage. This year, significant changes were made to the Russian River Basin, essentially subdividing the watershed from two sub-basins to seven sub-basins (Fig. 1). Additionally, the official Flood Stage at Hopland was lowered to 15 ft. from 21 ft. and the Monitor Stage of 18 ft. was eliminated (Fig. 2). Although impacts to structures don’t occur until the river reaches 21 ft., there is a major road near Hopland that is impacted beginning around 15 ft. Some changes were also made to various other watersheds around the state, including re-calibrating several basins in the San Joaquin watershed: Hensley Lake (Fresno River), Eastman Lake (Chowchilla River), and the so-called Merced Streams Group, Orestimba Creek, Del Puerto Creek, Dry Creek near Snelling, and Vernalis. Additional changes outside of the San Joaquin watershed were made to Trinity Lake and Los Baños Reservoir, as well as select areas of the Feather and American basins, and areas of the Central California Coast and Southern California Coast.
Figure 1 – Subdivisions of the Russian River Watershed
Staffing Changes at the California Nevada River Forecast Center- The CNRFC hired a new
Information Technology Specialist in August, Shelia Deiotte. Shelia was the Electronic Systems Analyst serving both the CNRFC and the Sacramento Weather Forecast Office, where she supervised a team of technicians charged with maintaining and repairing National Weather Service equipment such as weather radars, radio transmitters, various hydrometeorological observing systems, and IT equipment. This leaves one hydrologist vacancy remaining at the CNRFC. Additional Feature on CNRFC Webpage – A new
feature has been added to the CNRFC webpage that allows users to display 5-day and 10-day peak exceedance probabilities at the 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 90% exceedance levels, for those points where probabilistic forecasts are available. This feature can be found to the right of the default CNRFC domain map displaying official forecast points, as a sub-header under “Rivers/ Reservoirs”, “Ensemble Forecasts” and labeled as “Peak Exceedance Probabilities”.
Figure 2 – Changes to Flood Stage – Russian River near Hopland
FMA NEWS
FIRST-EVER COL CARL MORRISON COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD PRESENTED AT THE 2019 ANNUAL CA SILVER JACKETS MEETING Lindsay Floyd and Rachael Orellana On September 6, 2019, the inaugural COL Carl Morrison Collaborative Leadership Award was presented to Ms. Maria Lorenzo-Lee from CA DWR. The award was given in-person by COL Morrison’s family at the CA Silver Jackets meeting held this year in San Diego, CA on the final day of the Floodplain Management Association (FMA) Conference. COL Carleton “Carl” Morrison, Jr. was a wellrespected, collaborative leader of California Flood Risk Management programs. He was a visionary and leader within the CA Silver Jackets community. Col Morrison was described as being a, “warm, inviting, dedicated, hardworking, supportive leader,” and was a Veteran of the Vietnam War, Pacific Region Vice Commander of the Civil Air Patrol, Lt. Colonel for the Marine Corps, a lawyer, and an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. On April 6, 2018, COL Morrison tragically passed away.
Throughout his career, COL Morrison contributed to the Watershed University project, worked to connect Silver Jackets and Civil Air Patrol, and established and COL Carleton "Carl" strengthened the Coastal Morrison, Jr. Hazards Adaptation Resiliency Group that provides technical support to communities facing challenges from sea level rise. Furthermore, he worked to secure $20M of funding to install a cutting-edge Advanced Qualitative Precipitation Information system for the Bay Area to improve forecasting for atmospheric river events and was a champion for interagency regulatory permit coordination efforts.
Ms. Maria Lorenzo-Lee receives the COL Carl Morrison Collaborative Leadership Award, surrounded by COL Morrison's family. FMA NEWS
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The COL Carl Morrison Collaborative Leadership Award was established to honor COL Morrison and recognize leaders that embody COL Morrison’s values of collaboration, leadership and dedication. “When I was notified that I was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Col. Carl Morrison award,” Lorenzo-Lee said, “I was extremely honored, touched and overwhelmed. I immediately remembered how Carl encouraged and supported our CA Silver Jackets activities. I have his memorial collage in my office, so I think of him often. I hope to build upon his example and continue his spirit of collaborative leadership with others. “
Lorenzo-Lee, who served as the CA Silver Jackets deputy at CA DWR, was the recipient of the award, presented by COL Morrison’s family. Lorenzo-Lee has been working in Flood Risk Management for over 20 years and has been a leader of the CA Silver Jackets team since its inception. She most recently served as the CA Silver Jackets deputy and has just transitioned to her new role at DWR as Senior Engineer and Programmatic Project Manager for the Division of Regional Assistance’s Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) program. (Surprisingly, but not, Maria quickly discovered that COL Morrison had been an instrumental collaborative leader in IRWM for over 15 years.) Maria has worked throughout her career to promote interagency collaboration. Every day, Lorenzo-Lee serves as a bridge between local, State and Federal agencies to combine resources and knowledge to tackle some of California’s toughest flood risk issues. “Traditionally, Floodplain Management [FPM] is not taught in school, but the key aspect about FPM is you have to collaborate and interact with people to increase success,” Lorenzo-Lee explained.
THERE IS A RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS. AND THERE IS A NEW WAY TO DO THINGS.
AND SOMETIMES THEY’RE EXACTLY THE
SAME THING.
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FIRST-EVER COL CARL MORRISON COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP AWARD PRESENTED AT THE 2019 ANNUAL CA SILVER JACKETS MEETING
Her key contributions to the FRM community include: co-championing the Silver Jackets CA Flood Risk Education Project and Flood After Fire effort; and promoting the Regional Summaries of Local Hazard Mitigation Plans analysis. Furthermore, Maria helped usher the original MOU between CA DWR and USACE that initiated the CA Silver Jackets team and coordinate the signing of the CA Silver Jackets Charter. Lorenzo-Lee is also responsible for co-initiating, along with Judy Soutiere, California’s Flood Preparedness Week. What started as involving one community about flood risk and emergency action has grown to getting over 25 counties raising flood risk awareness throughout California. Lorenzo-Lee collaborated with COL Morrison to promote CA Flood Preparedness Week in the Bay Area. CA Flood Preparedness Week is a quintessential example of the collaboration that both Lorenzo-Lee and COL Morrison exemplify in the Flood Risk Management community. In 2018 alone, CA Flood Preparedness Week included five live flood fight trainings, eight public outreach events, 30 social media campaigns that promoted emergency preparedness, and nine media interviews. Communities across the state now are more informed of their flood risk due to a team of people and agencies sharing resources, networks and knowledge.
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Through her passion for getting people to work together, Lorenzo-Lee continuously sets an example that inspires others to work collaboratively whenever possible. Both LorenzoLee and COL Morrison share qualities of compassion and dedication. Despite impending deadlines or busy schedules, Lorenzo-Lee always finds time to recognize, appreciate, and listen to those around her. COL Morrison similarly prioritized creating space to connect on a personal level with CA Silver Jackets team members. The COL Carl Morrison Collaborative Leadership Award serves as a way to connect and recognize dedicated leaders in local, State, Federal, and Tribal Flood Risk Management. Many great applicants were considered for this inaugural award. The next COL Carl Morrison Collaborative Leadership Award will be presented at the 2020 FMA Conference to be held in Sacramento, CA.
2019 ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS IN BRIEF
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Mary Seits The 2019 Annual Conference, Knowledge: Keeping the Lights on Floodplains, Resilience Planning, and Risk Reduction, was a tremendous success! Over 500 attendees filled the sessions, field trips and the premier Exhibit Hall. Held in San Diego, CA we covered everything from philanthropic endeavors to river tours to plenaries, panels, technical sessions and more. Tuesday got off to a great start with the several exciting workshops with something for everyone including, 2D Modeling, San Diego County’s Flood Control 101, Floodplain Manager’s Review Course, and Open House with Federal and State Agencies to name just a few. Tuesday evening, FMA hosted our third annual Community Service Event. Five hundred backpacks were filled with items needed by the San Diego River Foundation for their flood risk education projects with school age children. The exhibit hall opening reception highlighting the wide array of vendors and consulting firms, agencies’ expertise, networking, and more. We could not hold this Annual Conference without the support of these sponsors and exhibitors Our plenary Wednesday morning kicked off the opening of the conference with messages from our three co-chairs, Sara Agahi (County of San Diego), Vic Nguyen (California DWR), and Eric Simmons (FEMA), as well as our informative and entertaining keynote speaker on Atmospheric Rivers and West Coast Flooding, Dr. F. Martin Ralph (UCSD Scripps Institute of Oceanography) and welcome speaker, Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, representing San Diego’s Fourth District. The awards luncheon was a success with the keynote address delivered by Colonel Aaron Barta, the 62nd commander of the Los Angeles District. Congratulations to our many award winners! See below for a list of this year’s award winners. Continues on next page
2019 Floodplain Management Association Annual Conference
Flood Management Solutions From Concept to Completion Coastal and Riverine Flood Management Vulnerability Analysis Habitat Restoration Climate Change Permitting + Compliance Betty Andrews, PE bandrews@esassoc.com 707.795.0900
Nick Garrity, PE ngarrity@esassoc.com 310.599.4300
ESA is a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm delivering work that matters.
www.esassoc.com FMA NEWS
2019 ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS IN BRIEF
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr. F. Martin Ralph, Plenary I Keynote Speaker
Colonel Aaron Barta, Awards Luncheon Keynote Speaker
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, Plenary I Welcome Speaker
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
Co-Chair Sara Agahi, County of San Diego
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Co-Chair Eric Simmons, FEMA Region IX
Co-Chair Vic Nguyen, California DWR
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We held over 20 panels and 30 technical sessions. Please see the conference webpage for these presentations. Additionally, the Thursday evening event was a Hornblower harbor cruise which provided a beautiful backdrop to our evening of social time and networking.
Using technology to mitigate natural disasters
Friday concluded our conference with more panels, yet another workshop (HEC-RAS 5.1 – What is Coming?), a Tijuana Valley River tour and a Silver Jackets meeting. If you happened to miss this year’s conference, be sure not to miss out in 2020 when we are in Sacramento, CA, September 8-11. Hope to see you all there!
Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico in 2017, dropping more than 35 inches of rain – washing out roads, bridges and homes. At least 35 dams, including the 90-year old Guajataca Dam near the city of Quebradillas, experienced damage and required immediate evacuation. The potential for dam breach was high.
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DSS-WISE™ software enabled us to develop two-dimensional dam breach mapping. Our teams are using advanced technology to help support and protect our communities.
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2019 ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS IN BRIEF
FMA 2019 Award Winners Coastal Zone Management and Stewardship Award California Coastal Analysis and Mapping Project FEMA Coastal Study Management Team
Award for Excellence 2018 Las Vegas Valley Flood Control Master Plan Update Clark County Regional Flood Control District Atkins Company
FEMA Region IX
Andy Lee Award for Extraordinary Public Service for State Activities
Coastal Zone Management and Stewardship Award
25 Years of Distinguished Service
Formation of San Mateo Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency Agency
California Department of Water Resources
San Mateo Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency Agency
Maria Lorenzo-Lee Mentorship Award James Schaaf
ESA Associates
Schaaf and Wheeler Consulting Civil Engineers
Communications and Outreach Award
Mentorship Award
Virtual Reality Project for Flash Flooding
Lindsey Sheehan
Erin Neff and Jessi Acuna
ESA Associates
Public Information Team
Karl Mohr Distinguished Service Award for National Activities
Clark County Regional Flood Control District Communications and Outreach Award Watershed University 2017 - 2019 David Pesavento Nikki Blomquist California Department of Water Resources
25 Years of Service Cindy Matthews NOAA- National Weather Service Floodplain Manager of the Year Brent Siemer
Integrated Flood Management Award
City of Simi Valley
35 years of protecting Delta Islands and Delta infrastructure
16 Years of Service to FMA
Hogg-Owen Award
Gilbert Cosio
Mark Seits
MBK Engineers
HDR Engineers
Integrated Flood Management Award
Award for Excellence
37 years of Protecting Delta Islands and Delta Infrastructure
69 years of engineering service
Christopher H. Neudeck
RL Shafer and Associates
Kjeldsen, Sinnock, Neudeck Engineers
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Richard L. Schafer
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Group Award Photo
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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS FOR THE
2019 FMA ANNUAL CONFERENCE GOLD SPONSORS
PLATINUM SPONSOR
SILVER SPONSOR
BREAK SPONSOR
BREAKFAST SPONSOR
EXHIBITORS
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BADGE & LANYARD SPONSOR
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Delivering innovative, cost-effective and sustainable solutions integrating water, people and the environment Watershed & Stream Corridor Planning • Flood Risk Management Flood Studies & Modeling • Ecosystem Restoration Climate Change • Community Planning • Geospatial & LiDAR
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THE HIGH
WATER MARK The Newsletter of the Floodplain Management Association