EPA and Flood Risk – Programs and Perspectives

1. EPA and Flood Risk – Programs and Perspectives Rob Wood Acting Deputy Office Director Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Flood Risk Management Summit July 14, 2009 wood.robert@epa.gov

2. EPA Goals and Flood Risk Management • Protect and restore wetlands; • Replicate natural hydrology in watersheds; • Reconnect rivers and streams to their floodplains; • Anticipate climate change impacts; • Support green infrastructure; • These goals also improve water quality, protect drinking water, and restore aquatic and terrestrial habitats.

3. EPA’s Goals Align with Floodplain Management Vision • FEMA’s document A Unified National Program for Floodplain Management, and • ASFPM’s policy paper: Natural and Beneficial Functions: Floodplain Management – More than Flood Loss Reduction • emphasize that the co-equal goals of floodplain management are to: • Reduce the loss of life and property caused by floods, and • Protect and restore the natural resources and functions of floodplains.

4. Wetlands: Nature’s Flood Protection Flood services • Store and release floodwater over a period of time. • Reduce flood volume and velocity. • Lower downstream flood stages. • Coastal wetlands such as marshes and mangrove swamps buffer storm surge

5. Loss of Wetlands Causes Flooding • Over 60 days of floodwater storage once existed in the bottomland hardwood forests along the Mississippi River. • Only 12 days storage remains today.

6. Wetlands Restoration Supports Flood Reduction • EPA collaborates with the USACE, States, Tribes and other partners to restore ecosystems while achieving other benefits such as flood protection, water quality improvements, and habitat restoration. • EPA is working with the USACE on the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Study; • EPA has been an active member of the UMR/IWW System Navigation Study principals and technical groups; • EPA is working with its partners to restore wetlands in the Upper Mississippi River Basin through EPA grants and with technical assistance.

7. EPA Efforts to Address Coastal Wetlands Coastal Wetlands Initiative • Improve EPA understanding and educate key stakeholders on: • Functions and values of coastal wetlands • Factors contributing to loss in specific geographic areas • Programs and strategies to protect and restore coastal wetlands • Encourage collaboration among federal state, state, and local, and nongovernmental partners involved in planning, preservation, and restoration efforts in coastal watersheds.

8. EPA Goal: Reduce Increased Runoff From Development • Increasing imperviousness from urbanization causes hydrological modification and adverse environmental impacts: • Greatly increased runoff volume • Stream scouring transport of excess sediment • Lack of groundwater recharge by infiltration • Loss of base stream flowbetween storm events • Reduction and sometimes elimination of fish and macro-invertebrates • Reducing runoff from development is also recognized by FEMA as one tool of flood reduction.

9. Low Impact Development Contributes to Flood Reduction • EPA promotes practices that mimic natural processes to manage stormwater where it falls: Infiltration Evapotranspiration Reuse • Roadside swales instead of pipes, permeable pavements, bioretention, green roofs…many practices can be used

10. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 “Sec. 438. Storm Water Runoff Requirements for Federal Development Projects. The sponsor of any development or redevelopment project involving a Federal facility with a footprint that exceeds 5,000 square feet shall use site planning, design, construction, and maintenance strategies for the property to maintain or restore, to the maximum extent technically feasible, the predevelopment hydrology of the property with regard to the temperature, rate, volume, and duration of flow.”

11. Conventional

12. Low Impact Development • Starting to be adopted by local communities to achieve multiple objectives. • Now a standard for Federal Facility development • EPA working to promote the use of low impact development as the standard design technique in development and redevelopment • The National Research Council (2008) recommended a shift in the regulation of stormwater to include flow volume, in addition to quality

13. Clean Water State Revolving Fund • The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the “Stimulus Bill,” targeted 20% of the $4 billion in Clean Water State Revolving Funds for “Green Infrastructure,” which included funding for green stormwater projects. • Green Infrastructure refers to systems or practices that use or mimic natural hydrological conditions. • Funds for green infrastructure under SRF will continue. • Examples include protecting floodplains and riparian areas, pocket wetlands, permeable pavement, green roofs, etc.

14. Climate Change • Need to prepare for the uncertainties in future flood frequency and intensity; base, or reference conditions, of storms are changing due to climate shifts • EPA is working on adaptation to address short-term changes. For example, “Climate Ready Estuaries” is assessing, testing, and implementing coastal adaptation projects through the National Estuary Program.

15. Working Together • Our goals complement each other: • Protecting floodplains and wetlands reduces flood damages; • Restoring watershed hydrology reduces flooding and protects water resources. • Improving interagency communication and collaboration will facilitate effective implementation of flood risk management and environmental protection.

16. EPA Contacts • John McShane – Floodplain Management mcshane.john@epa.gov • Lisa Hair – Low Impact Development hair.lisa@epa.gov • Tim Landers – Wetlands landers.tim@epa.gov • John Wilson – Climate Ready Estuaries wilson.john@epa.gov

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