Larry R. Johnston, Washington, DC
The Federal Interagency Task Force on Floodplain Management (ITF-TF) collaborated with this local expert in the 1989’s to prepare a major report “Floodplain Management in the US: An Assessment Report”. Larry was one of a handful of researchers to investigate the linkages between scientific investigations of flood hazards and the practice of floodplain management. He led a project involving FEMA and the ASFPM to develop a pilot training workshop aimed at helping practitioners incorporate what was known about mitigation techniques and planning (a new concept at the time) to their state and local situations.
Later, Johnston undertook for the Federal Interagency Task Force on Floodplain Management, a sweeping assessment of floodplain management across the nation that encompassed state, local, federal, and private actions and policies. He died suddenly before the work was finished and the task force, with and through Jim Wright at the Tennessee Valley Authority, enlisted Jacki Monday to complete Larry’s draft and write the summary volume.
In tribute to Johnston’s contributions, in 1993 the ASFPM created the “Larry R. Johnston Local Floodplain Manager of the Year” Award, designed to honor an individual responsible for the development of a distinguished local program or activity, or one who struggles to implement flood hazard reduction at the local level in the absence of sophisticated programs and support.