Interagency Teaming in Flood Risk Management - Silver Jackets (PAP014370)

Código

PAP014370

Autores

Jennifer KayVeir Dunn, Elizabeth Bourget, Norbert Schwartz

Tema

Flood resilient societies through community preparedness

Resumo

The Silver Jackets is an innovative program that continuously brings together multiple Federal, State and sometimes local, Tribal and non-governmental representatives to learn from one another and apply their knowledge collaboratively to reduce the risk of flooding and other natural disasters, and to enhance response and recovery efforts when such events do occur. No single government agency has all the answers, but often multiple programs can be leveraged to provide a sustainable solution. Silver Jackets provides a formal and consistent strategy for an interagency approach to planning and implementing measures to manage the risks associated with flooding and other natural hazards. Although each state-led team is unique, common participants include state agencies with mission areas of hazard mitigation, emergency management, floodplain management and natural resources management and conservation. Federal participation typically includes the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and often includes the National Weather Service (NWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Geologic Survey (USGS), the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Silver Jackets teams are developed at the state level with support from USACE, FEMA and additional Federal agencies. Teams focus on the flood or all-hazard risk management priorities of their individual states, building a life-cycle strategy to build resiliency in the state. Through the USACE representative on the state team, USACE supports team collaboration to achieve multiple goals, including: 1) leveraging resources, authorities and programs and applying them in a coordinated manner among agencies, 2) sharing data and information, 3) reducing duplication, 4) identifying gaps and barriers to implementation, and applying solutions or providing recommendations to overcome them, 5) providing multi-agency technical resources to assist state and local agencies,6) increasing and improving flood risk communication through a unified interagency effort, and 7) establishing ongoing relationships to facilitate integrated post-disaster solutions after a disaster. Currently, 40 states are served by active teams, and efforts to offer a team to the remaining 10 states continue. Over the last three years, Silver Jackets teams have initated sixty (60) pilot projects, leveraging $5.7 million in USACE investment against a $5.0 million investment from state, local, federal and other agencies. Forty-one projects in twenty-five states focus on either flood risk management or levee safety issues. Nineteen projects in nineteen states will achieve nonstructural objectives. In tracking the benefits of these projects, teams focus on assessing risk; raising awareness; promoting action at multiple levels; and quantifying how risk was reduced or managed. This presentation will provide an update on the progress of state-led Silver Jackets teams, from initiation through a variety of activities throughout the risk management life-cycle, to completion of collaborative projects and coordinated response and recovery actions.