Planning Background

Who does planning? We all do. But, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there is a cadre of people focused on true planning work.

The importance of plan formulation is one aspect we can benefit from understanding the details.

In the Planning Primer at USACE Planning Library, the terms used for forming alternatives is very deliberate. The technical tools start with terms like a “management measure.” The management measure definition helps, because all the partners are doing the work that planners do. From the reference, Planning Primer (IWR Report 97-R-15, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Institute for Water Resources), alternatives for solving a water resource flooding problem may be a management measure that is a feature or an activity. This basic definition captures the interagency and community roles in addressing flood hazards. The features are commonly understood as structural features, or dams, levees, or channels, to name a few. Among the nonstructural management measures are the important activities, such as administrating a floodplain ordinance, ensuring zoning is followed, and checking that building codes are properly included in constructed residences and businesses. Other important activities are maintaining a levee, or cleaning debris from storm sewers. This is why one can quickly understand that a diverse portfolio of measures is important in flood risk management.

Flood Risk Management Basics

In the mid-1900s, the U.S. government was directing agencies to address flood disasters. The Father of Floodplain Management, Gilbert F. White, helped the government get its arms around the problems. His contributions go far beyond his dissertation, Human Adjustment to Floods: A Geographical Approach to the Flood Problem in the United States.

We saw the changing perception of how the United States has dealt with floods over the last 100+ years. Early on the misconception was we could do “flood control.” Then we pivoted to “flood damage reduction,” as we realized floodwaters were one thing, but the consequences were in the floodplain. Eventually, agencies like the USACE realized that “flood risk management” was the mission, and USACE realized agencies like EPA were already risk management organizations. The practice needed to change to better mitigate flooding.

At its core, flood risk management, as demonstrated in the NFRMP program at USACE, defined things clearly. Defining it starts with focusing in on floodwaters and floodplains. This equation helps quantify the risk:

Flood Risk = (Probability of Flooding) x (Consequences)

Furthermore, you can insert a term for the Performance of any feature. Levees have been a key focus in the 2010-2020 decade, but dams proceeded levees. And, channels are a major infrastructure where failures in understanding also abound.

The planning community of practice offers many helpful ways to understand flood risk management. This webpage will tackle more.