{"id":3243,"date":"2013-05-02T08:01:38","date_gmt":"2013-05-02T12:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=3243"},"modified":"2013-05-02T08:07:34","modified_gmt":"2013-05-02T12:07:34","slug":"valdosta-plans-flooding-discussions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/05\/valdosta-plans-flooding-discussions.html","title":{"rendered":"Valdosta Plans Flooding Discussions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n

\r\nValdosta is finally announcing the\r\n\r\n11 April 2013 watershed-wide flooding meeting<\/a> organized by\r\nthe Army Corps of Engineers.\r\n

\r\n\r\nWCTV yesterday carried a press release from the City of Valdosta<\/a>;\r\nPR which, oddly, does not appear to be on the city’s website.\r\nI have added a few links. Prominently missing from the PR is any mention\r\nof water quality, the Floridan Aquifer, or sinkholes. -jsq\r\n

\r\n

\r\nThe City of Valdosta initiated planning discussions recently that\r\nbrought together representatives from key local, state and federal\r\nagencies to seek solutions to a regional flood issue.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n<\/a>\r\nThe 50-year flood event that occurred in late\r\n\r\nFebruary<\/a>,\r\nearly\r\n\r\nMarch<\/a>\r\n2013 was a vivid reminder of the 2009 flood event that significantly\r\nimpacted south Georgia. Since 2009, the city has worked to help\r\n\r\n\r\nidentify potential causes<\/a> and the scope and area of the regional\r\nflooding that occurred. This information has been shared with\r\nvarious state and federal officials and agencies in the hopes of\r\ngaining their interest and support to work together to address the\r\nregional flooding. Since Valdosta is located\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n at the bottom of a\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n1,500 square mile drainage basin, the flooding is an issue that\r\ncannot be solved locally, but must be addressed by multiple\r\nagencies, jurisdictions and stakeholders. As a result, city\r\nofficials are proactively seeking discussions with representatives\r\nof other impacted communities along the Withlacoochee River and\r\nLittle River, as well as those across the state who may provide the\r\nnecessary resources to address a solution.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“While the city’s efforts have raised awareness, these\r\nreoccurring events demonstrate the need for an appropriate agency to\r\ntake the lead in conducting a comprehensive study of the drainage\r\nbasin that literally extends to the Gulf of Mexico,” said City\r\nManager Larry Hanson. “Once developed, this study will\r\nidentify causes, alternative analysis, and the roles of federal,\r\nstate and local governments and agencies to implement solutions to\r\nthe regional flooding.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nIn\r\n\r\na letter dated March 11<\/a>, the City of Valdosta requested a meeting\r\nwith the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to discuss flood risk\r\nmanagement problems and opportunities in the Suwannee-Satilla\r\nbasins, which impacts multiple cities and counties. Within days, the\r\nUSACE agreed to an April 11 meeting at Valdosta City Hall with the\r\n\r\nGeorgia Silver Jackets Program<\/a>—a state-led interagency team\r\nwith the mission of reducing flood risks. Also attending the meeting\r\nwere\r\n\r\nrepresentatives invited<\/a> from City of Valdosta, Lowndes County,\r\nCity of Tifton, Tift County, Southern Georgia Regional Commission,\r\nSuwannee — Satilla Water Planning Council, Georgia Emergency\r\nManagement Agency (GEMA), Georgia Department of Natural Resources\r\n(DNR), Georgia Environmental Protection Division, U.S. Geological\r\nSurvey (USGS), as well as representatives from the offices of\r\nCongressman Jack Kingston, Congressman Austin Scott, Congressman\r\nSanford Bishop, Senator Johnny Isakson and Senator Saxby Chambliss.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“It was most encouraging to see the interest, concern, and\r\nsupport from so many entities. We always stand ready to serve the\r\npeople in the Suwannee-Satilla basins in reducing flood\r\nrisks,” said USACE Georgia Silver Jackets Coordinator Jeff\r\nMorris.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nAs a result of the meeting, the City of Valdosta and Lowndes County\r\nsent a letter of intent to the USACE to show our interest in\r\nparticipating in their\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n\r\nPlanning Assistance to States (PAS)<\/a>\r\nprogram—a 50\/50 cost share program which is designed for\r\nplanning purposes, such as to complete a reconnaissance level flood\r\nrisk management study. Further discussions with city, county and\r\nUSACE staff led to the agreement to focus the funding on the most\r\nconcentrated area impacted by flooding, which is where Two Mile\r\n\r\nBranch and Sugar Creek join the Withlacoochee River. The city is\r\ncurrently finalizing the scope and timeframe with the USACE and\r\nplans to have it prepared by the May 9 Valdosta City Council meeting\r\nto approve the application and to commit the $75,000 in matching\r\nfunds.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n<\/a>\r\nSeveral short-term and long-term goals also resulted from the\r\nmeeting, which include seeking coordination with FEMA and GEMA to\r\nupdate flood maps as part of the\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nRisk Map program<\/a>, requesting a\r\nwatershed study, and meeting with USGS and the National Weather\r\nService (NWS) to discuss the flood warning and response process and\r\nthe application of other potential funding sources. A preliminary\r\nmeeting was held on May 1 with USGS and the NWS, along with staff\r\nfrom Valdosta, Lowndes County Emergency Management, DNR, USACE, and\r\nthe Suwannee River Water Management District in preparation for a\r\nsecond regional meeting in June to begin more specific work.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n“This initial meeting was very productive, and we will be\r\nrequesting consideration of the Silver Jackets and\/or state to serve\r\nas the lead agency on this regional effort,” said Valdosta\r\nMayor John Gayle. “This is the first of many steps that must\r\nbe taken to address the regional flooding that has impacted much of\r\nsouth Georgia and north Florida. The city is committed to work\r\nalongside each of the communities and agency partners involved to\r\nmake sure that we work collaboratively to address the regional\r\nflooding without negatively impacting those downstream and the\r\nnatural environment.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Valdosta is finally announcing the 11 April 2013 watershed-wide flooding meeting organized by the Army Corps of Engineers. WCTV yesterday carried a press release from the City of Valdosta; PR which, oddly, does not appear to be on the city’s website. I have added a few links. Prominently missing from the PR is any mention […]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16,50,477,2,19,88,21,553,54,55,177],"tags":[6223,6231,8706,65,59,1970,8701,8699,8709,8702,12,7,8734,2916,8711,8778,1695,491,6158,342,6,8726,8727,932,8748],"class_list":["post-3243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","category-epa","category-ga-dnr","category-government","category-history","category-lowndes-county-commission","category-planning","category-sgrc","category-valdosta-city-council","category-water","category-wctv","tag-basin","tag-drainage","tag-environment","tag-fema","tag-flood","tag-gefa","tag-georgia","tag-government","tag-history","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-nws","tag-planning","tag-sgrc","tag-tift-county","tag-tifton","tag-usace","tag-usgs","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council","tag-water","tag-watershed","tag-wctv"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-Qj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3243"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4865,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3243\/revisions\/4865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}