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A fundamental goal of the ASFPM Foundation is to foster research and education to support efforts to reduce flood losses and improve floodplain management in the United States. The Gilbert F. White National Flood Policy Forum thus was initiated by the Foundation in order to periodically convene experts in floodplain management to explore pressing issues in the field and set out ideas for resolving them. From these Forums we hope will grow a broader and deeper understanding of what it is that we still need to know, how we better can apply what we already know, and what paths may still be unexplored in our attempts to improve management of our nation’s floodplains. Only with that understanding can we move forward with needed research, policy modifications, and other actions. |
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2007 Forum Resources Applying Gilbert White's Adjustment Concept to Address Floodplain Management in 2050 (.ppt) - Larry Larson, Executive Director, Association of State Floodplain Managers Human Factors in 2050: Population Trends, Growth, Urbanization (.ppt) - Dr. Arthur C. "Chris" Nelson, Virginai Tech - Alexandria Campus Environmental Factors and Natural Resources in 2050: Climate Change, Ecosystem Degradation, Land Use (.ppt) - William H. Hooke, Director, American Meteorological Society Government and Other Factors in 2050: Devolution Upwards and Downwards (.pdf) - G. Tracy Mehan III, Principal, The Cadmus Group, Inc., Former Assistant Administrator for Water, US Environmental Protection Agency Changes to Floodplain Management As We Move Towards 2050 (.ppt) - Dr. Gerald Galloway, University of Maryland; Doug Plasencia, Michael Baker, Inc. The Use of Scenario Based Planning to Guide Future Adjustments (.ppt) - Colin Thorne, Professor and Chair of Physical Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
Download the 2007 Forum Assembly Photo with captioned names. Historical Links |
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Forum #2 - November 6-7,
2007 Download the 2007 Forum Agenda “Floodplain Management 2050” is an invitational workshop of experts focusing how we will manage flood risk and our floodplains in the future given the increasing population, rise in housing demand, tight federal budgets, climate change and other factors. The first Forum, held at the National Academies in 2004, focused on the effectiveness of the 1% annual chance flood standard. It initiated a dialog and a series of “actions needed” recommendations in how our knowledge of flood risk is applied. The second Forum will provide insight to guide policy change and research necessary to ensure that the nation’s floodplains in 2050 are properly managed and that flood damages do not continue to escalate. The late Gilbert F. White’s 1942 dissertation, Human Adjustments to Floods, provided an alternative framework for managing flood risk that became the foundation for modern floodplain management. The following eight adjustment factors in White’s “geographic” approach to managing floods will provide the context for the Forum:
These factors will provide a framework from which to evaluate expected change and to identify adaptations needed. This includes both evaluating whether the adjustment factors in and of themselves meet current and future needs. From this backdrop various issues of change will be considered, including:
Each forum participant will be asked to submit a paper focusing on one or more of these issues as they relate to meeting the demands floodplain management will face in 2050. Papers will be distributed in advance of the Forum to all participants to help shape the content of the discussion, and will be retained as part of the Forum archive to guide later reporting and provide a record of the thinking of policy experts in 2007. Download the 2007 Forum Background Reading Materials |
The Gilbert F. White Endowment for Flood Risk Management Policy
Living with Nature's Extremes: The Life of Gilbert Fowler White