Upcoming Webinar Training Session: New Approaches to Flood Management

Join us for an interactive and educational session on April 20th from 12 to 1:00 on: Climate Change Adaptation and the Green River: Rethinking Flood Protection and Storm-water Management.

This session will be available through webinar software, allowing you to watch the session from your office computer and participate in the discussion. Planners located near campus are also welcome to join us in person for this session, located on the UW campus in Architecture Hall, room 140.

Topic: The implementation of flood damage risk reduction adaption approaches to climate change will reduce today’s threat. But, we must think of rivers differently.

 

Using the vulnerable Howard Hanson Dam and Green River levee system as a case study, our presenter will explore how and why we must build a flood tolerant landscape. Why we need to store floodwaters in the mountains, on plateaus and the lower floodplains. Why we need to reestablish beaver dams, build wet gardens and construct recharge areas.

Participants in this session will gain information on current issues of climate change relative to flooding and the measures that planners (not solely engineers) can take to adapt to climate change effects:

  • Increased risk of flooding from climate change (both frequency and severity)
  • Potential adaptation methods for our communities to deal with increased risks of flooding
  • Alternative approaches to flood management that create flood tolerant landscapes
  • Other benefits of alternative flood management in terms of water resource protection and habitat enhancement.

By integrating these solutions with other natural resource protection and green building/low impact storm-water techniques, planners will learn more holistic solutions to storm-water management and regulation of new development that can be applied to their local communities.

 

Speaker: Bob Freitag is the Executive Director of the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW www.crew.org), Director of the Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research and Associate Faculty at the University of Washington (http://depts.washington.edu/mitigate/). Previously, he has worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), private architectural and engineering firms in Hawaii and Australia, and taught science as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines.

The Institute promotes hazards mitigation principles through courses, student intern opportunities and research. CREW is a not-for-profit corporation of private and public representatives working together to improve the ability of Cascadia Region communities to reduce the adverse effects of earthquakes. Freitag served for 5 years on the ASFPM Certification Board and is currently on the Board of Regions. He is coauthor of “Floodplain Management: a new approach for a new era” (Island Press 2009).

CM Credit: We are currently applying for CM credits. This session will be 1 hour in duration and will be worth 1.0 credit. Registered participants will be sent information on the CM credits when they are approved.

Registration: There are no costs to participate, but you must register by sending an e-mail with your request (webinar or on-site) and your name and e-mail address. We will send you information on how to link in to the webinar or directions to the meeting site. Send your registration request to: jill.sterrett@gmail.com no later than Saturday, April 17.

Questions? contact Jill Sterrett, FAICP at: jill.sterrett@gmail.com