Grant from EPA to incorporate Green Infrastructure solutions into the State Hazard Mitigation Plan
KAMM received a grant from EPA to incorporate Green Infrastructure solutions into the State Hazard Mitigation Plan. There have been significant efforts for EPA and FEMA to collaborate on flood-related mitigation efforts using nature based solutions.
Objective of the Grant: Incorporate Green Infrastructure (GI) and Low Impact Development (LID) concepts as nature based mitigation actions in the Commonwealth of Kentucky Enhanced State Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Green Infrastructure Definition
Section 502 of the Clean Water Act defines green infrastructure as:
“…the range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable pavement or other permeable surfaces or substrates, stormwater harvest and reuse, or landscaping to store, infiltrate, or evapotranspirate stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters.“
Learn More About KAMM Grant
Nature-based solutions provide a unique opportunity to strengthen natural resource management efforts and create a better, more resilient future for all Kentuckians.
EPA Presentation
Download the presentation by Drew Parker, EPA RIV, Incorporating Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development (LID) into State Hazard Mitigation Plan
KAMM/KDOW Presentation
Download the presentation by Carey Johnson, KAMM Past Chair and At-Large Representative Creating Resilient and Sustainable Communities for the 21st Century – Infusing nature-based solutions into Hazard Mitigation Plans
This presentation outlines the intent to create a Resilient Commonwealth.
Kentucky’s Efforts and Partners
Communities have been implementing nature based solutions for years. Generally as a result of MS4 (Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer System) programs or EPA consent decrees.
But…leveraging best practices from local stormwater programs with statewide planning and mitigation efforts in a systematic manner is a fairly new concept…at least in Kentucky.
Partners
- EPA Region 4
- FEMA Region IV
- Kentucky Emergency Management
- Kentucky Division of Water
- The Nature Conservancy – Kentucky
- Kentucky Association of Mitigation Managers (KAMM)
Nature Based Solutions for Hazard Mitigation in Kentucky Report
April 2022
Link to Nature Based Solutions for Hazard Mitigation in Kentucky Final – April 2022
Nature-Based Solutions in Kentucky: New Ways to Keep Water and Nutrients on our Farms, in our Gardens, and off our Streets
November 9, 2021
By Perry Thomas, KDOW
Kentuckians can protect downstream neighbors and wildlife by using innovative natural approaches to mitigate floods and prevent erosion. Increasingly, community planners and risk managers transform rural, suburban and urban landscapes into places where stormwater flows into constructed wetlands, vegetated swales or rain gardens rather than directly into waterways or onto streets. In addition to keeping water close by for future use, diverting rain helps keep soils and associated nutrients in place.
As our weather swings between periods of drought and short bouts of intense rain, the need for these kinds of strategies increases. By capturing rainwater and keeping it near at hand, we can help mitigate floods downstream and improve our ability to keep livestock, crops and gardens watered during dry periods. We can also keep soil and nutrients on our farms and in our neighborhoods.
Link to the full article – New Ways to Keep Water and Nutrients on our Farms in our Gardens, and off our Streets.
Kentucky’s Efforts and Partners
Communities have long been implementing nature-based solutions, typically as a result of MS4 (Municipal Separate Stormwater Sewer System) programs or EPA consent decrees.
However, leveraging best practices from local stormwater programs with statewide planning and mitigation efforts in a systematic manner is a fairly new concept, at least in Kentucky.
Kentucky’s Mitigation-related Collaborative Efforts
- State Hazard Mitigation Council
- Includes a quorum of the KAMM Board
- Ohio River Basin Alliance
- Dept. of Local Government (DLG) State Flood Control Match Fund
- State-owned Dam Repair Fund
- Kentucky Nature Preserves
- Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Grants
- HMGP (Hazard Mitigation Grant Program)
- BRIC ( Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities)
- FMA (Flood Mitigation Assistance)
- Risk MAP (Mapping, Assessment and Planning)
- Silver Jackets
- Public Assistance 406 mitigation
- Clean Water Act – CWA Section 319(h) watershed planning
Key Terminology
Nature-based solution: locally appropriate, cost-effective actions that mimic or support natural processes while simultaneously providing economic, social, and environmental benefits
Green Infrastructure: a type of nature-based practice that uses natural hydrological processes and natural elements such as soil and plants to capture stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface water
Low-impact Development: a planning and design approach to manage stormwater runoff using green infrastructure
Co-benefit: shorthand for “collaborative benefit,” which are the multiple, sometimes multidisciplinary benefits that arise from a singular practice
Ecosystem service: benefits people obtain from ecosystems (e.g., food, water, oxygen)
Ecosystem-based management: an integrated management approach that considers the multiple and varied interactions within an ecosystem
Hazard Mitigation Plan: federally-mandated plan that aims to abate and prevent the impact of natural hazards, like floods, drought, tornados, mudslides.
Community Rating System: a voluntary, incentive-based community program that recognizes, encourages, and rewards local floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum standards of the National Flood Insurance Program
Watershed Management Plan: flexible framework that addresses water quality issues in a given watershed
Mitigation Matters!
Have questions, contact us at help@kymitigation.org.
Don’t forget to join the KAMM group on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
KAMM is a non-profit 501 (c) (3).
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