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This was originally sent by email.

August 22, 2002

Office of Surface Water Memorandum

TO:  District Chiefs and Regional Program Officers
FROM:  J. Michael Norris, Chief (Acting), Office of Surface Water
SUBJECT:  Potential opportunities in FEMA flood insurance mapping program

The Office of Surface Water memorandum dated April 19th provided initial information on the planned expansion of FEMA's flood-plain mapping program and mentioned that additional information would follow. This memorandum summarizes information resulting from USGS participation at the recent national convention of the Association of State Flood-Plain Managers and several conversations with FEMA officials. In addition, John Costa and Steve Blanchard will each be spending a month at FEMA headquarters this fall to facilitate USGS/FEMA relationships during flood disasters, foster information exchange, and build relationships.

In anticipation of a $300 million funding increase in its National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) map modernization effort in FY 2003, FEMA is encouraging several Federal agencies, as well as the private sector, to increase their participation in flood-plain mapping activities.

In FY 2002, FEMA has initiated an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) interagency agreement for about $1 million for work that has been proposed by USGS WRD Districts to FEMA regions (attachment 1). The FY 2002 agreement is intended as a first step in building up an infrastructure of Federal agencies that will continue to support the flood-plain mapping program in FY 2003 and beyond. FEMA has expressed particular interest in having USGS provide flood-frequency information for regional and river-basin scale floodplain mapping projects. Considering the increased flood-plain mapping activity that FEMA anticipates, districts are encouraged to contact their FEMA regional office and state NFIP program coordinators to discuss mapping needs and proposal ideas. Establishing and maintaining a dialogue with FEMA regional offices and with State and local disaster-mitigation and floodplain-management agencies is probably the most effective way for districts to stay informed about the changing programs and needs of FEMA. A listing of FEMA regional offices and the States they serve can be found at: http://www.fema.gov/about/contact/regions.shtm.

We remind our districts that FEMA, as well as State and local flood-plain management agencies, have relied and will continue to rely heavily on the private sector to accomplish the many activities contributing to flood-plain mapping. The capabilities of engineering consulting firms in addressing flood-plain mapping issues have matured greatly in recent years, and the USGS needs to acknowledge these capabilities in planning its future work in this arena. However, because the needs of FEMA and the technical capabilities of agencies and the private sector differ among States and localities, it is difficult for the Office of Surface Water to prescribe specific national guidelines for USGS flood-plain mapping activities that would be useful or appropriate in each State. One size clearly does not fit all. Several examples of the types of activities that districts might offer are listed in attachment 2. Additionally, the NRP is involved in planning improvements to national capabilities for flood-plain mapping that will be of benefit to districts in the future.

An important part of the process for administering the new expanded Map Modernization Program beginning in FY 2003 is the development of an Implementation Plan for mapping activities in each State. FEMA has asked each State NFIP Coordinating Agency to organize a State Technical Advisory Committee (State TAC) that represents the broad scope of flood-plain stakeholders in the State, to develop a state-wide plan for setting mapping priorities and allocating funds. First drafts of the State plans are to be completed by the end of August. We recommend that, if you have not already done so, you contact your State NFIP Coordinating Agency to see how you might assist the State TAC develop its implementation plan and to discuss with the TAC what contributions are needed from your staff in addressing the specific map modernization needs of the State, counties, and municipalities. This collaborative approach will help ensure that our contributions are being made where needed and that we are not taking on work that the private sector in a given locale is able and willing to do. A listing of NFIP Coordinating Agencies for the States in each FEMA region can be found under headings of "State Partners" or "Regional Partners" from the web site listed above.

In addition to the water discipline activities listed in attachment 2, the USGS is a national repository and server of digital orthophoto quad (DOQ) data used extensively as preliminary base map information and of the new LIDAR elevation data being collected as part of the Map Modernization Program. Through this program, the Nation will be making major investments in new high-accuracy elevation data. It is crucial to the USGS and to the nation that these new data are collected to common standards, such as those under development by the National Digital Orthophoto Program and the National Digital Elevation Program. It is equally important that the data are stored in a manner that makes them available to The National Map and therefore the public for many future uses. We need your help in making this issue visible to State and local agencies and ask that you work with USGS/NMD staff to help accomplish this goal. These NMD contacts in Reston are as follows: Richard Pearsall (rpearsall@usgs.gov or 703-648-4532) for general FEMA coordination, John Crowe (jcrowe@usgs.gov or 703-648-5596) for elevation data coordination, and Richard Kleckner (rkleckne@usgs.gov or 703-648-5741) for digital orthophoto data coordination.

The Office of Surface Water will continue to provide updated information on Flood-plain mapping issues of interest to Districts. In the meantime, if you have questions, please contact Bill Kirby in OSW (wkirby@usgs.gov or 703/648-5315).

Attachments

Attachment 1

FEMA headquarters has announced to the FEMA regions the funds that have been allocated this year for flood-insurance work by the Corps of Engineers and the USGS. Note that the projects have been only partially (50 percent) funded and that the partial funding will result in task assignment for only specific elements of the flood-insurance studies, not complete flood studies. The distribution of funds among USGS Districts in several FEMA regions has not been specified and is left to the discretion of those FEMA regions. Also note that the FEMA regions have to complete the project planning for the scaled-back projects, perhaps in consultation with the USGS, and issue task or project orders before any work can be begun by USGS. The actual work (and collection of funds) by USGS probably will not begin until next fiscal year.

Of particular importance to USGS is FEMA's decision to defer until next year all work on "Gage Analysis and the Updating of Flood Magnitude and Frequency Estimating Equations." FEMA evidently wants to get additional endorsement from the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) Hydrology Subcommittee for the use of USGS regional equations before making a big investment in having the USGS develop them.

The funding allocations are as follows:

Attachment 2

The primary role of the USGS in flood-plain mapping is generally related to providing and expanding the science behind the map production, and not in performing routine flood-plain mapping activities. An exception to this might be for the USGS to do a small amount (10 to 15 percent) of routine flood-plain mapping within a state to stay current with techniques and issues so the USGS could better serve as an advisor to FEMA. Potential USGS-WRD contributions include:

• Technical input and relevant hydrologic and hydraulic data in early stages of mapping project formulation.
• Completed maps or technical input for mapping of complex river reaches and flood plains for which standard methods are inadequate.
• Regional regression analysis of flood frequencies and magnitudes for use on ungaged stream reaches.
• Research in flood-frequency methodology and related determinations of local and regional flood frequency, including non-conventional analyses such as mixed-population, future-conditions urbanized flow, and regulated-flow studies.
• Research in hydraulic modeling for computation of water-surface profiles and floodways in one- and two-dimensional flow and unsteady flow situations, leading to capabilities beyond those available in existing hydraulic modeling software.
• Improved map-updating methods that would produce better accuracy and/or require less time and resources.
• Post-event flood-inundation maps and flood-inundation studies using 1D or 2D models, for purposes of improving the hydraulic data base for inundation modeling as well as for quality assurance and verification of FIRMs.