Flood Inundation Maps & Report Released for Lake Champlain & Richelieu River

In the last post, information was provided about the draft report prepared by a working group of the International Joint Commission (IJC) about flood inundation and forecasting in the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River watershed.  The IJC is a a collaboration between the US and Canada to provide coordination, management and protection of shared watersheds. Here in Vermont, we have representatives that have been appointed to the International Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Technical Working Group.

Today, the final report that came out of the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Technical Working Group was released.  The report, A real-time flood forecasting and flood inundation mapping system for the Lake Champlain-Richelieu River watershed, was an outcome of a 2013 comprehensive Plan of Study.

From the press release:

"The IJC endorses the TWG observation that enhanced coordination among agencies involved in real-time forecasts is necessary to support the development and maintenance of forecast models and quality-controlled joint water level predictions. The Commission endorses the TWG recommendation that a binational coordination body be mandated and funded to consolidate and synthesize flood forecasting work undertaken domestically into a single binational flood forecast. This body would also be charged with developing and disseminating consistent messaging to emergency responders and the public.

"Consequently, the new IJC report does not evaluate potential flood mitigation measures as this was outside the terms of reference provided by governments.

"The Commission reiterates its strong recommendation that governments implement the full scope of the 2013 Plan of Study (PoS) to evaluate past impacts, flood plain management practices and adaptation strategies, and to assess soft (i.e., low impact and cost) to moderate flood mitigation measures and their impacts."

An outcome of the report was a series of inundation flood maps that show the areas of the Lake Champlain and Richelieu River shorelines that would be inundated when the Lake flood waters are at a certain height. Again, from the press release:

"The inundation maps show flooding potential under different flood scenarios and are not designed for regulatory purposes. A preview of these maps is available on the IJC web site at: http://arcg.is/1MhXui2."

Please take some time to explore the inundation maps, as well as read through the final report which can be found at http://ijc.org/files/publications/Lake-Champlain-IJC-Report-to-Govts-Dec-2015-NEW.pdf 

Interview about Post-Flood Recovery with President Clinton & Gov. Chris Christy - Clinton Global Initiative

A few days ago, I had been sent a link to a video from the Clinton Global Initiative of President Clinton's interview with NJ Governor Chris Christie about post-Sandy flood recovery.  Although this discussion is focused on the recovery of New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy, President Clinton and Governor Christie use it as a way to more broadly discuss the topics of flooding, community planning, mitigation, recovery and the structure of flood insurance in the United States.

You may or may not agree with all approaches or ideas that are presented here (should we be spending billions of dollars on sand dune "re-nourishment" projects that will only last for a short number of years?), but I thought the discussion may help to spark some ideas or questions of your own.  It seems like it is quite a rare interview that has two influential high level policy makers (current and former) in an in-depth and frank discussion about mitigation and recovery.

Some of the highlights of their discussion includes:

• Purchase of flood damaged homes and approach taken by the State of NJ;
• How the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) can be re-organized or should flood insurance in the US be completely re-thought;
• Some discussion on the role of the state in the recovery effort;
• Why does Nebraska care about flooding in NJ?; and
• Should another Federal agency be tasked with the role of flood policy, preparedness, planning and mitigation and let FEMA return to an emergency management agency?

You can link to the full 45 minute interview on C-Span's video library here. 

Sandy's On Her Way

It looks like we may be spared the same type of flooding that we had seen during Tropical Storm Irene, but the magnitude of damage experienced here in Vermont during Irene wasn't quite expected, either.  At least one thing that that is different from Irene is the level of awareness of the storm and the preparations that people are making that didn't seem to be as prevalent as we were waiting for Irene to make landfall.  Also, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, many  people took advantage of FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to have their floodprone property acquired by the community.  This should hopefully reduce any flood damages to homes and property that may result from Hurricane Sandy.

Additional information about preparing for a storm and other important Vermont-specific links can be found on Vermont Emergency Management's website - http://vem.vermont.gov/  

You can keep an eye on the streamflow conditions throughout Vermont at the US Geologic Survey's site and you can track Sandy's movement at the National Weather Service site, or Vermont Public Radio's site, too.

There are already reports of the impacts from storm surge affecting parts of NYC (to learn more about storm surge, visit NOAA's site  that includes an animated demonstration of how storm surge works.)

If there is any additional information regarding flooding in Vermont, we will be sure to post here.  Also, see our "Links to Important Documents" page for more resources.