2011 NeFSMA Conference - HAZUS Dam Breach Inundation Analyses

Application of HAZUS in Risk Management and Production of Updated Dam Breach Inundation Analyses - Paul Woodward and Carrie Romero, Olsson Associates

The objectives of this presentation are to educate the audience on ways to enhance Hazard Mitigation Plans during their required 5-yr update period. Key subjects presented will include the application of HAZUS in Risk Assessment and the production of updated dam breach inundation analyses.

Because the Papio-Missouri River NRD’s Hazard Mitigation Plan was the first plan adopted inthe State of Nebraska in 2006, it is the first plan to be officially updated before the mandatory 5-year deadline. However, as this presentation will emphasize, the 5-year update really isn’t a requirement, it is an opportunity to expand the possibilities of what can be achieved through hazard mitigation on multiple levels. First, FEMA and the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency are striving to get more entities involved, including schools and non-profits. Second, the range of hazards and the variety of potential actions is growing to meet the demands of thesenew agencies and to better accommodate beneficial projects.

The focus of our presentation will be to highlight the differences between the 2006 and the 2011P-MRNRD Hazard Mitigation Plan. One major difference between the two plans is the methodology used for overall risk assessment. While the original plan presented extensive historic evidence for potential hazards, the new plan utilizes FEMA’s Multi-Hazard Loss Estimation Software, HAZUS-MH. Using CENSUS and enhanced data available from local GIS sources, HAZUS-MH was able to provide damage estimates for earthquakes, floods, dam and levee failures.

One example of improved data was new analysis or redelineation for over 20 high hazard dams in the P-MRNRD. Where LiDAR and property parcel data was available, dam breach inundation maps were updated to accurately show the limits of impact and to produce a database of affected property owners should they need to be contacted during an emergency. In fact, these updated maps are not only used in the Hazard Mitigation Plan, but have been updated in Local Emergency Operations Plans for each dam and have been put to use in some local desktop exercises.

The last key difference between the original plan and the updated plan is the mitigation goals and the opportunities for using better risk assessment data to support a wide range of mitigation projects. Example mitigation actions, programs or projects include storm shelters, flood and tornado warning systems, drainage and channel improvements, property buyouts, revised flood hazard maps, backup generators, burying power lines, encourage proper tree maintenance, stormwater management, and many others.

2011 NeFSMA Conference - Antelope Creek Watershed Basin Management Plan

City of Lincoln’s Antelope Creek Watershed Basin Management Plan - Ed Kouma, PE - City of Lincoln and Jonathan Mohr, AICP - EA Engineering, Science, and Technology

The City of Lincoln (City) and Lower Platte South Natural Resources District (LPSNRD) are working with a project team of scientists and engineers to establish the Antelope Creek Watershed Basin Management Plan (Basin Plan. The City has hired a team that includes EA Engineering, Science, and Technology (EA) located in Lincoln, JEO Consulting Group (JEO) in Lincoln, Wright Water Engineers (WWE) of Denver, and nationally recognized water quality expert, Dr. Robert Pitt from the University of Alabama, to establish the Basin Plan.

The City of Lincoln, working with the NRD, is continuing an ongoing effort to establish watershed master plans in order to plan for capital improvement projects. This Basin Plan differs from past plans by focusing on improving water quality, versus improvements to flood control and stream degradation and erosion. Extensive flood control and stream stability has mostly been addressed in the Basin Plan project area. The plan is intended to provide a list of projects at a concept level that will improve Antelope Creek, a highly urbanized area in the center of Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepared a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) in 2007 for Antelope Creek. This segment of Antelope Creek contains elevated levels of E. coli bacteria, ammonia, and other contaminants. The two main goals of the Basin Plan are to determine the cause of the E. coli and ammonia problems and determine what can be done to reduce levels of each contaminant.

Anticipated to be completed fall of 2011, the Basin Plan will identify problem areas and list recommendations for a number of structural and non-structural Best Management Practices (BMPs) designed to reduce pollutants in specific areas of the Basin. The plan will serve as a tool to both the City and LPSNRD to identify and manage stormwater quality issues as re-development takes place within the Basin.

Attendees will learn about the City of Lincoln’s efforts to improve water quality in Antelope Creek through pollutant sources identification, assessment of the TMDL, how capital improvement projects were selected and prioritized, and how they plan to implement stormwater management BMPs.

Nebraska Floodwater News Headlines of the Day 6/3/2011

The Omaha District office of the US Army Corps of Engineers posted a Public Safety Message News Release yesterday.  http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/html/pa/pahm/NR060211d.pdf


“Our number one priority is to save lives and our goal is to promote public safety, first and foremost,” says Omaha District Commander Col. Robert Ruch. “We ask the public to be aware of rising  floodwaters and to please practice safety throughout this period of high water.” 


Other news from around the State is interesting.


AP Photo/Sioux City Journal, Tim Hynds 
Flooding rated as 10 by state emergency officials
http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_47392598-56b8-5563-80fc-781239e1471b.html


"In the latest in a series of history-making decisions, the Corps announced it would open spillway gates Friday morning on the Big Bend Dam near Fort Thompson, S.D., to pass floodwater from Lake Sharpe to Lake Francis Case for the first time since the dam went into service in 1963.


And a levee related quote from Mike Jess, former director of the Nebraska Department of Water Resources, "There are levees that will presumably protect property. But what we discover is that, with the river at high elevations for long periods, the groundwater rises behind the levees."



THE WORLD-HERALD Photo, DANIELLE BEEBE

Missouri River Flooding: Corps gets a torrent of questions

http://omaha.com/article/20110603/NEWS01/706039901#missouri-river-flooding-corps-gets-a-torrent-of-questions

"In a scene being repeated up and down the Missouri River this week, the people of Monona County gathered Thursday at the West Monona Community School to get their questions answered.

"(Monona County) Sheriff Jeff Pratt and Randy Behm of the corps' Omaha District office tried to provide the answers. The audience of nearly 1,000 people was unfailingly polite, applauding Behm as he was introduced."

Journal photo by Jim Lee

Local officials grapple with rumor control

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/

"When rumors start up, they run like a grass fire," Sioux City Fire Chief Tom Everett said during a briefing for the media at The Security Institute on the campus of Western Iowa Tech Community College.

Consequently, Sioux City and Woodbury County residents may call a new flood response hotline at 224-5262. City and county employees will answer six lines daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hotlines have also been established for Nebraska and South Dakota residents."

Photo by George Lauby
Flood water rising
http://www.northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=20865&pageID=3&sectionID=3

"For a week, they’ve watched the water rise. It will get worse.

“We got some more bad news today,” (John) Simants told the Bulletin. “The Army Corps of Engineers is taking over. On Friday, they will go to Wyoming and assess all the reservoirs, decide which gates will be opened and how far. They said it could be a lot of water.”

Estimates of how high the river will get have already steadily increased. A week ago, the crest was expected to be 7.2 feet. On Tuesday the river reached 7.4 feet and the crest estimate increased to 8 feet.

A crest of 6.5 feet is considered a major flood.

The crest could come at 9 or 10 feet, Simants has been told. No one knows for sure."

2011 NeFSMA Conference - USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Initiative

USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Initiative – A National Program - Richard Wilson P.E., Associate Director, USGS Nebraska Water Science Center

Learning objectives: The USGS is implementing a nationwide flood-inundation mapping program. The goal of the program is to enable government officials to make timely operational and public-safety decisions during floods based on the best available data, studies, and resources. 

This presentation will outline the comprehensive and partner-based USGS Flood-Inundation Mapping Initiative and discuss early successes in Michigan and Ohio, and a real-time flood-inundation mapping project in Washington.

A powerful new tool for flood response and mitigation is digital geospatial flood-inundation mapping that shows flood-water extent and depth on the land surface. Flood-inundation maps that are tied to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) real-time streamgage data and National Weather Service (NWS) flood forecast sites enable officials to make timely operational and public-safety decisions during floods. A long-term goal of the program is to promote and implement real-time flood-inundation mapping. 


Because floods are the leading cause of natural-disaster losses, and because disasters associated with flooding can be reduced with proper preventative measures, development of a USGS National flood-inundation mapping science initiative is critical to meet USGS science strategy goals for the National Hazards, Risk, and Resilience Assessment Program major science direction. A USGS National flood-inundation mapping science initiative benefits and fosters partnerships with other Federal agencies such as the NWS, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); and State and local agencies.

2011 NeFSMA Conference - Hydraulic Model, Habitat Availability, T&E Sepcies

Hydraulic Model of the Central Platte River to Determine Habitat Availability for Three Threatened and Endangered Bird Species. Steve Smith, P.E. - Executive Director’s Office of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program

Statement of learning objectives: Attendees will learn how an interstate and federal Program is using a hydraulic model of the Central Platte River to determine habitat availability for three threatened and endangered bird species.

Proposed Presentation: The Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (Program) was initiated on January 1, 2007 between Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, and the Department of the Interior to address endangered species issues in the central and lower Platte River basin. The species considered in the Program, referred to as “target species”, are the whooping crane, piping plover, interior least tern, and pallid sturgeon. Program participants have reached an agreement for participation in the First Increment of the Program for the period from 2007 through 2019.

The Program’s management objectives include improvement of the survival of whooping cranes during migration, and improvement of least tern and piping plover production. One of the management strategies to achieve these objectives is the Flow-Sediment-Mechanical (FSM) strategy. This strategy includes mechanical creation of target species habitat (e.g., building sandbars), and use of short duration high flows (SDHF) in combination with sediment augmentation to create and maintain habitat for target species.

Habitat preferred by the Program target species includes wide, braided, non-vegetated river conditions ideal for nesting and roosting. Reduced streamflow and occurrence of invasive vegetation have resulted in a reduction of preferred habitat area. A HEC-RAS hydraulic model of a 153-mile reach of the Central Platte River was used to estimate the magnitude of streamflow necessary to scour invasive vegetation. The hydraulic model was also used to determine sandbar height and channel width that would maximize flow scour potential, while minimizing the risk of nest inundation.

The presentation will briefly discuss the overall management objectives and strategies of the Program. The remainder of the presentation will be focused on the application of the hydraulic model for estimating available habitat for the target species, and determining a range of channel design parameters that would maximize the creation and maintenance of habitat under the Program’s FSM management strategy.