Dam and Levee Safety and Community Resilience A Vision for Future Practice (2012) / Chapter Skim
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5 Tools for Building Resilience
5 Tools for Building Resilience
Pages 97-120
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From page 97... ...
In the case of large dams, federal agencies and private dam owners routinely review dam safety, both through their own application of industry best practices and in compliance with state and federal dam safety requirements. But those steps address only one aspect of the risk equation: the likelihood of an adverse event, not its consequences.
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From page 98... ...
The chapter concludes with discussion of what the committee considers essential to successful incorporation of resilience-enhancing practices into dam and levee safety programs: evaluation of current safety program activities. The committee suggests a model that could be applied by safety programs and the broader community to assess processes that are in place and processes expected to be in place at given increments of program maturity.
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From page 99... ...
• Public and private dam and levee professionals responsible for safety may be simi larly overburdened. For example, according to the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO)
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From page 100... ...
Although they may not have the financial or other resources of larger infrastructure management entities, they may already have reasons beyond the professional for the continued safe functioning of infrastructure, and it may be easier for them to tap community networks and discuss the ties between infrastructure safety and community resilience. Their own professional and technical decisions may likely be more easily influenced by community member and stakeholder resilience needs and priorities.
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From page 101... ...
. As part of the EAP, copies of the maps may be given to the emergency management agency of communities or other jurisdictions that would be affected by a dam failure or other dam safety incident.
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From page 102... ...
The lessons of Hurricane Katrina and other flooding and levee failure experiences have raised awareness of risks associated with levees. The levee community will need to continue to develop and define what constitutes a levee safety program and to develop standards of practice, training, model programs, and new tools for use by its professionals.
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From page 103... ...
. CHOOSING TOOLS TO ENHANCE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE A variety of methods, techniques, measures, and approaches are applicable to efforts to improve community resilience to dam and levee failure.
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From page 104... ...
An assessment of existing community resilience programs and their strategies allows the community to set realistic objectives and to identify additional tools that are likely to provide cost-effective reductions in risk and improvements in overall resilience. Some communities may already apply an all-hazards approach to improving community resilience.
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From page 105... ...
. Various tools have been identified by planners and others to improve a community's ability to be resilient in the face of dam or levee failure, including • requirements to provide flood hazard information through delineated flood hazard zones on subdivision plats, through disclosure of hazards by real estate agents, and posting of signs warning of hazards (e.g., high-water marks on historical markers)
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From page 106... ...
A different kind of financial incentive could require each property owner to pay an amount equal to the amortized cost of flood hazard reduction infrastructure (e.g., dams and levees)
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From page 107... ...
Environmental resilience is a part of community resilience, and floodplains provide important habitat for plants and animals, and migration corridors for many species. Protection of floodplains from development can result in wildlife protection, lowered potential flood heights, protection of downstream development from flood damage, improvements in water quality, and preservation of environmental amenities for educational and recreational purposes.
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From page 108... ...
, landuse decisions (e.g., building outside flood-prone areas, and locating utilities and critical infrastructure where the direct and indirect consequences of dam and levee failure will BOX 5.4 Dike Relocation in the Elbe River in Germany To cope with flood disasters, the northwest federal state of Brandenburg, Germany, implemented multiple flood prevention measures along the Elbe and Oder Rivers, including strengthening, raising, or setting back exist ing dikes (Drees and Sünderhauf, 2006)
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From page 109... ...
. As members of the larger community, dam and levee safety professionals with federal agency support, can demonstrate for each situation the specific benefits of the processes that improve community resilience, and can themselves realize the benefits of the improved resilience.
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From page 110... ...
As already described, discussion and feedback are vital for collaborative engagement, and dam and levee professionals and the communities they serve need assistance identifying mechanisms for engagement, whether for enhancing dam and levee safety related to infrastructure operations or for providing their expertise in land-use, floodplain, or financial management.
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From page 111... ...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has conducted safety reviews of dams since the 1970s, and since enactment of the National Dam Safety Program Act in 1996,3 has inventoried dams and identified those that pose hazards to downstream populations and property.
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From page 112... ...
The maturation of the safety review process continues, led by a number of professional organizations and risk practitioners in the dam safety field. Some members of the dam and levee safety community do realize the benefits of a safety program that includes elements of community resilience.
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From page 113... ...
However, even when quantitative risk assessment is applied, the decision criteria are typically those of dam owners rather than of the broader community. Resilience will be improved when dam safety reviews mature and include the community in defining decision-making criteria.
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From page 114... ...
, operating 240 dams and 65 hydropower stations in the Province of Ontario, Canada, has developed a model similar to that of the CMMI concept and applied it at a detailed level to assess its ability to manage flood events and their effects on dams (Bennett and Sykes, 2010)
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From page 115... ...
Assessment of Community and Stakeholder Engagement The committee presents a tool to facilitate a common understanding among all community members and stakeholders of the shared and individual responsibilities, risks, and processes associated with continued safe operation of dam and levee infrastructure and the continuum of measures to improve community resilience. Tools that ensure transparency and understandability at the community level, both in and outside dam and levee safety programs, are fundamental to success; the Maturity Matrix for Assessing Community Engagement, described below, is such a tool.
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From page 116... ...
The first steps in applying the Maturity Matrix for Assessing Community Engagement are to define what is to be evaluated (e.g., safety program areas or community practices) and then to define in the maturity matrix the existing conditions and tools already in use.
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From page 117... ...
Safety programs and communities can create extremely detailed maturity matrices that can serve to inform all manner of technical decisions, or decisions related to social aspects of enhancing resilience. The Maturity Matrix for Assessing Community Engagement supports communication and engagement by providing visual pictures of existing conditions and of planned improvements while incorporating the technical detail needed for implementation and assessment.
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From page 118... ...
through best industry practice to community including development of member and full stakeholder engagement and collaboration (Level V) community preparedness measures, warning and evacuation procedures, and recovery plans Floodplain management No floodplain Floodplain Floodplain management management plans management plans plans accommodate in place shadow floodplain associated with catastrophic dam or levee failure Specific tools such as those Each tool is defined at different levels showing progression related to land-use planning from minimum activity (Level I)
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From page 119... ...
Tools for Building Resilience Level IV Level V Examples of Possible Outcomes Application of quantitative risk Application of quantitative risk Community is fully apprised of assessment by using criteria assessment by using criteria that current level of risk developed by owner or regulator reflect the community's societal with input from community values members and stakeholders EAPs developed with input Community collaboration with Community collaboration from community members and owners or operators to develop results in EAPs that minimize stakeholders and emergency integrated EAPs that reflect consequences of defined management agency and community values emergencies by incorporating shared with selected community community values and the representatives potential for community resilience Floodplain management plans Floodplain management plans Full participation by both integrated into community fully integrated into dam and community and dam and comprehensive or general plans levee owners' planning processes levee owners in floodplain management facilitates adoption of complementary resilience enhancing measures 119
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From page 120... ...
DAM AND LEVEE SAFETY AND COMMMUNITY RESILIENCE post-disaster recovery plans, or when to acquire or assist in the acquisition of land subject to deep flooding to prevent its development for urban uses. They may also be able to assist in arranging with financial institutions for low-cost loans to fund flood-proofing of residences and businesses, and with training and certifying remodeling companies to increase the supply of flood-proofing services.
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