Fort Collins Government Best Practices Leadership Link

1. Fort Collins Government Best Practices Leadership Link • November 18, 2010 • Edward A. Thomas, Esq. edwathomas@aol.com 617-515-3849

2. Good Day! • I appear today with thoughts from: The Natural Hazard Mitigation Association The Natural Hazard Center of the University of Colorado The Association of State Floodplain Managers This is not and cannot be legal advice This is a statement of general principles of ethics, law and policy

3. Fort Collins • You folks have done many floodplain management and water resources activities which are a national model • Higher Regulations • Class 4 Community Rating System Community! • Clearly you are trying to enhance community safety, sustainability and wellness • If these world class accomplishments were available in writing they could be used, much as the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District materials are now used nationally and internationally

4. Why do we have government? • Any ideas?

5. What Is the Proper Role of Government Employees Concerning Disasters? • Pre-disaster • During disasters • Following disasters

6. Fundamental Consideration • Allocation of responsibility for safe and sustainable development: • Government • Business and Industry • Individuals

7. Key Themes • We Need To Think Broadly To Solve Our Serious Problems • We Must Stop Making Things Worse • Right Now We Have A System Which Rewards Dangerous Behavior • We Need To Remove Bad Incentives, Reward Good Planning, Safe Building, and Safe Reconstruction

8. What is a Disaster? • Loss of a Job? • Loss of One’s Home? • Loss of a business or industry? • Loss of a Community Facility? • Widespread Loss of Power? • Wildfire? • Blizzard?

9. What is a Disaster? • It’s All a Matter of Perspective • Victim • Local Community • State • Federal Government

10. Must an Event be a “Disaster”? • Preparation • Individual • Insurance • Disaster Kit/Plan • One’s Community • Disaster resistant building codes/zoning • Pre-Disaster Mitigation • Mutual Assistance compacts • Disaster Contingency Planning • Volunteers – the Citizens Corps • StormSmart Coasts Materials

11. To Set the Stage For Our Discussion • Lets discuss some basics of Law • In the Law-especially criminal law- Attorneys often seek to identify someone else to take the blame • For increased flood damages that “Someone Else” is often… 11

12. Mother Nature 12

13. Does Nature Cause Disasters? • Dr. Gilbert White, the late, great, founder of the internationally recognized Natural Hazards Center, headquartered in Colorado, stated the facts: “Floods are Acts of Nature; But Flood Losses Are Largely Acts of Man” 13

14. I Hope All of You Will Agree • Among the Most Clear Lessons of The Horrific Floods of this Decade: • There Is No Possibility of A Sustainable Economy Without Safe Locations for Business and Industry to Occupy • We Need Safe Housing for Employees to Work at Businesses and Industry – to Have an Economy at All 14

15. Trends in Flood Damages • Flood losses and reported flood heights are increasing • Demographic trends indicate great future challenges 15

16. Demographic Projection: Colorado Population in 2050 Colorado's population is expected to nearly double by 2050. Colorado's population is expected to nearly double by 2050. In 2008, approximately 5 million people resided in the state. By 2050, Colorado's population is projected to be between 8.7 and 10.3 million people, with the majority residing in the Arkansas, South Platte and Metro Basins. However, the western slope of Colorado will see the greatest percentage increase in population during the next 40 years Citation: A 2050 VISION FOR COLORADO'S WATER SUPPLY FUTURE Authors: Nicole Rowan, CDM, Susan Morea, CDM , Eric Hecox, Colorado Water Conservation Board Where Will These Folks Wish to Live?

17. $6 billion annually Four-fold increasefrom early 1900s Per capita damages increased by morethan a factor of 2.5 inthe previous century inreal dollar terms In the 2000’s Think About Nashville, Atlanta, the Red River of the North ASFPM Analysis of Trends in Flood Damages

18. USACE Slide courtesy of Pete Rabbon

19. All Shareholders Can Also Contribute to Increased Risk! Residual Risk Can Be Increased Initial Risk No Warning/Evacuation Plan- or A Poorly Developed and Exercised Plan Fill in floodplain or Wildfires Increases Flows Lack of Awareness of Flood Hazard-Lack of Flood, Business Interruption, DIC Insurance Critical Facilities Not Protected From Flooding Increased and more Costly Development Levees Not Properly Designed/Maintained Vastly Increased Residual Risk RISK

20. Even If We Perfectly Implement Current Fort Collins Higher Floodplain Regulations, Damages Will Continue or Increase. Central Message • Remember, we have done a number of positive things, both non-structural and structural, but… • We’ll discuss why that is… 20

21. But There Is Hope! • Association of State Floodplain Managers No Adverse Impact concept and message • New and exciting APA and ABA awareness and initiatives • Ongoing Fort Collins Activities • Colorado Water Conservation Board Initiatives • Improved FEMA Flood Mapping Program-Risk MAP The formation of the National Hazard Mitigation Collaborative Alliance • Formation of the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association

22. Paul Farmer: Executive Director of the American Planning AssociationJune 2009 • “APA's Hazards Planning Research Center is currently preparing FEMA-funded best practice materials showing how hazard-mitigation and adaptation plans can be integrated into comprehensive planning efforts at all scales — from the neighborhood to the region.” • This Document Has Just Been Released and Is Available • Excellent in My Opinion

23. coverages American Bar Association Resolutions 107 A-G Adopted by the ABA House of DelegatesJanuary 2009 Summary of Resolution 107 E “The following recommendations of the Financial Services Round Table Blue Ribbon Commission on Megacatastrophes are highly desirable loss mitigation suggestions: State of the art building codes Cost-effective retrofitting Land use policies that discourage construction posing high risk to personal safety orproperty loss. Property tax credits to encourage retrofitting These and related elements of loss mitigation are designed to ultimately bring to market affordable insurance policies with broadenedcoverages.”

24. Why Are Floods Getting Worse?Fundamental Misunderstandings:Where is the Floodplain? 24

25. Special Flood Hazard Area If you prevent floodplain fill, you keep existing development safe.

26. Large areas of the floodplain are filled and developed. Fill

27. Larger Special Flood Hazard Area After Filling

28. Flood Heights May Increase Dramatically More Than a Half-foot Even in Fort Collins! • Other factors may well cause a significant increase in flood Heights • Legally permitted fill and encroachments • Wildfires • Debris Blockage 28

29. Deeper and Higher Water Results? Serious Public Safety Issues

30. Safe Development Is Affordable • The American Institutes for Research has conducted a detailed study on the cost of floodproofing and elevation • That study supports the idea that elevation and floodproofing costs add very small sums and have a significant societal payback • The Multihazard Mitigation Council, a group which includes private industry representatives, reports that hazard mitigation has a proven 4-1 payback

31. The Choice of Development or No Development is a False Choice! The Choice We Have as a Society is Rather Between: 1. Well planned development that protects people and property, our environment, and our precious Water Resources while reducing the potential for litigation; or 2. Some current practices that are known to harm people, property, and natural floodplain functions- … and may lead to litigation and other challenges

32. Why Are Governments Not Acting To Prevent Harmful Development? • NOAA Just Completed A Study Which Surveyed Planners As To Impediments To Safe Development • Two Major Reasons Cited: • Fear of the “Taking Issue” • Economic Pressure

34. Reason #1 For Insufficient Standards:Economics and Externality • When One Group Pays Maintenance or Replacement of Something Yet Different Person or Group Uses That Same Something, We Often Have Problems • Disaster Assistance Is An Classic Example of Externality • Who Pays For Disaster Assistance? • Who Benefits?

35. Who Pays For Disaster Assistance? • Costs of flooding are usually largely borne by: a) The Federal and Sometimes the State Taxpayer Through IRS Casualty Losses, SBA Loans, Disaster CDBG Funds, and the Whole Panoply of Federal and Private Disaster Relief Described in the Ed Thomas and Sarah Bowen Publication "Patchwork Quilt” (Located at: http://www.floods.org/PDF/Post_Disaster_Reconstruction_Patchwork_Quilt_ET.pdf b) By Disaster Victims Themselves

36. Cui Bono? (Who Benefits?)… • From Unwise or Improper Floodplain Development- a) Developers? b) Communities? c) State Government? d) Mortgage Companies? e) The Occupants of Floodplains? Possibly in the short-term, but definitely NOT in the long- term 36

37. Why Should Government Do Something About This? • Fundamental Duty • Protect The Present • Preserve A Community’s Future 37

38. Why Else Should Government Do Something About This? • In a Word: Liability 38

39. Litigation for Claimed Harm Is Easier Now Than In Times Past • Forensic Hydrologists • Forensic Hydraulic Engineers 39

40. New Trend In The Law • Increasingly States Are Allowing Lawsuits Against Communities for Alleged Goofs in Permitting Construction Or in Conducting Inspections • Excellent Paper By Attorney Jon Kusler PhD For The Association of State Floodplain Managers Foundation Available On Line at www.floods.org 40

41. The preferred alternative is… To have NO DAMAGE Due to Land Use and Hazard Mitigation Three Ways to Support Reconstruction Following Disaster Damage • Self Help: Loans, Savings, Charity, Neighbors • Insurance: Disaster Relief is a Combination of Social Insurance and Self Help • Litigation

42. Flooded Homes May Cost City Millions City Held Liable – Damages Still To Be Determined Lincoln, Nebraska Photo: Lincoln Star Journal 42

43. 43

44. Short Legal Summary from Colorado • City owed a duty to landowner not to interfere with natural flow of river, either by plan of improvement adopted, or by a failure to maintain it such that flood burden on land was greater than if channel were left in natural state. • Denver v. Pilo,  Supreme Court of Colorado, 102 Colo. 326; 79 P.2d 270 (1938)

45. How About Immunity? • Where revised off-ramp caused flooding…under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, county was required to exercise reasonable care to correct condition…. • Larry H. Miller Corp.-Denver v. Bd. of County Comm'rs, Court of Appeals No. 02CA0545 , COURT OF APPEALS OF COLORADO, DIVISION FOUR , 77 P.3d 870 (2003) • And- • “…city's storm drainage system flooding plaintiff's adjacent property constituted continuing trespass….” • Docheff v. City of Broomfield, 623 P.2d 69 (Colo. App. 1980)

46. Reason #2 Why Safer Standards Are Not Implemented: Concerns About A “Taking” 46

47. Increase in Cases Involving Land Use • There has been a huge increase in Taking Issue Cases, and related controversies involving development • Thousands of cases reviewed by Jon Kusler, me and others • Common thread? Courts have modified Common Law to require an Increased Standard of Care as the state of the art of Hazard Management has improved • Government is vastly more likely to be sued for undertaking activity, or permitting others to take action which causes harm than it is for strong, fair regulation 47

48. Taking Lawsuit Results: • Regulations clearly based on Hazard Prevention and fairly applied to all: successfully held to be a Taking – almost none! • Many, many cases where communities and landowners held liable for harming others 48

49. Can Government Adopt Higher Standards Than FEMA Minimums? • FEMA Regulations Encourage Adoption of Higher Standards-”… any floodplain management regulations adopted by a State or a community which are more restrictive than (the FEMA Regulations) are encouraged and shall take precedence.” 44CFR section 60.1(d). (emphasis added) 49

50. Hazard Based Regulation And The Constitution Hazard Based Regulation Generally Sustained Against Constitutional Challenges Goal of Protecting the Public Accorded ENORMOUS DEFERENCE by the Courts 50