Nashville Mayor Karl Dean says the city has assembled a team to develop a unified flood preparedness program to lessen the damages that could be caused by future flood events in Nashville and Davidson County.
The process for developing the unified flood preparedness program will involve reviewing the “lessons learned” from the May 2010 flood, including the vulnerabilities along the Cumberland River and its main tributaries, and developing flood risk reduction alternatives to address them. Ideas that will be considered may include additional floodwalls or levees, flood proofing, channel improvements, and water storage and diversion.
Dean said the program will also consider additional flood mitigation measures, such as building elevation levels, and flood forecasting and warning systems.
“Developing a comprehensive flood preparedness program is the next step in our city’s long-term recovery from the May flood,” Dean said. “What we experienced in May has been called a 1,000-year flood, but we have to assume it can happen again. And if it does, we have to have the systems in place to better protect our city’s assets, our economy, and most importantly, our citizens’ lives and property.”
He said he wants the city to move ahead with the plan rather than wait for the federal government to do it. Nashville is initiating this program through a local partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because the typical federal process for developing a flood protection program would take another three to four years.
The program team consists of representatives from Metro Government, including the Mayor’s Office, Metro Water Services, the Office of Emergency Management and Metro Public Works. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be a key partner with Metro.
The process will also engage several other state and federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and the Tennessee Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Engineering firm Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon Inc. has been hired to serve as project manager, along with AMEC, which specializes in environmental projects.
“The goal of this effort is to develop a prioritized project list from which we can seek partnership in funding with local, state and federal agencies and partners to construct projects that will improve long-term flood protection for Nashville and Davidson County,” Director of Metro Water Services Scott Potter said.
The program team will kickoff its work this month. The development of the program is expected to take approximately 10 months.
Topics Flood New Markets Tennessee
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