Floodplain Regulation: Challenges and Opportunities in Preparing for Climate Changes (Webinar)

The Georgetown Climate Center recently hosted an important webinar about how communities can become more resilient to extreme weather and prepare for climate change through floodplain regulations.

The Dec. 6 webinar featured a discussion of a model sea-level rise ordinance developed by the Georgetown Climate Center and insights from three experienced planners from Iowa, New Hampshire, and Mississippi.  Practitioners shared lessons learned and their experiences enhancing regulatory standards in floodplains in the wake of extreme weather events - lessons that may prove particularly valuable as the northeastern United States recovers from Superstorm Sandy.

Webinar Presenters:

• Vicki Arroyo, executive director of the Georgetown Climate Center
• Jessica Grannis, staff attorney for the Georgetown Climate Center and author of “Adaptation Tool Kit: Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Land Use” 
• Julie LaBranche, senior planner for the Rockingham Planning Commission in New Hampshire
• Marty Ryan, city planner of Cedar Falls, Iowa
• Mike Smith, fire chief of Waveland, Mississippi
• Emily Maus, Georgetown Law student

Webinar Video
 

Additional Materials Related to the Webinar

• Zoning for Sea-Level Rise (Executive Summary)
• Case Studies in Floodplain Regulation
• Adaptation Tool Kit: Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Land Use
• The Adaptation Clearinghouse
• Sea-Level Rise and Property Rights: "The Cathedral Engulfed: Sea-Level Rise, Property Rights, and Time"
• City of Waveland Flood Prevention Ordinance 342
• Cedar Falls: Buyouts Case Study
• FEMA: Changes in the Flood Insurance Program – Preliminary Considerations for Rebuilding
• FEMA: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast – Floodplain Management Regulations, Building Codes, and Standards
• New Floodplain Maps for a Coastal New Hampshire Watershed, and Questions of Legal Authority, Measures and Consequences   Executive Summary | Full Report