Jimmy Carter and Floodplain Management

by Michael Mierzwa

During Carter’s tenure as U.S. President, the Interagency Federal Floodplain Management Task Force released the 1979 Unified Program for Flood Plain Management (1979). This document provided not only an approach to align Federal agency flood risk management policies, but it also shared a series of detailed recommendations for state’s to augment the implementation of flood risk management in the United States. Key among these recommendations was calling upon states to adopt regulations and partnerships with FEMA related to land use policies and management activities that is compatible with periodic flooding. While many of these recommendations were adopted in varying degrees by states, the key concepts are still relevant today. (Source: A Unified National Program for Floodplain Management. United States: Federal Emergency Management Agency, 1986.)

It is the tradition upon the passing of a US President for Federal employees to get a day off in mourning, and later for the President to lie in state in the Capital. Many stories about President Carter will circulate in the coming weeks, but I wanted to briefly share his connection to flood management.

One April 1, 1979, President Carter signed EO 12127, which established the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Carter recognized that the frequency of natural disasters was increasing and felt passionately that the role of government was to help those in need. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was intended to be the large vehicle to coordinate response at local, state, and Federal levels to emergencies and to address the often neglected task of recovery. FEMA was also chartered with a responsibility to mitigate natural hazards before they occurred.

Before establishing FEMA, President Carter signed EO 11988 – the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS). The Federal Register categorized EO 11988 as “Environmental Protection,” but the preamble of the groundbreaking order made it clear that Carter understood the order really was about future flood risk.

The FFRMS had two key ideas: 1) floodplains were both important and vulnerable to flooding, therefore land use should be consistent with flooding, and 2) these same floodplains provide for natural features beneficial to society and need protecting. Both principles were outlined in Gilbert White’s 1942 “Human Adjustments to Floods” work. Gilbert White had been consulting with Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford prior to Carter’s tenure as President. The preamble of EO 11988 clearly builds upon the groundbreaking environmental policy of the NEPA (1969), the NFIA (1968), and the FDPA (1973), which I have always referred to as three of the big four pieces of legislation of the era of big environmental legislation (the last piece of legislation was the 1972 Clean Water Act).

Executive Order 11988 – Floodplain Management. (Source: The provisions of Executive Order 11988 of May 24, 1977, appear at 42 FR 26951, unless otherwise noted.)

The principles of EO 11988 are foundational to our work activities in flood management. They establish rules by which we at the State operate today: 1) we must strive to protect not just people in the present from flooding, but also take (sometimes the harder stance) to anticipate future risk and take (almost always the much harder stance) to avoid short-term gain and consider land use with an eye towards recognizing benefits in addition to reducing flood risks, and 2) also evaluate the beneficial functions of land for maximizing these benefits and reducing losses elsewhere. When engaging communities in mapping, risk awareness, and flood risk management, the EO clearly wanted us to consider future floods (climate change) and future growth (development). The EO also wanted us to account for the benefits of the natural environment.

I credit not just Gilbert White for promoting these ideas, but political maverick and outsider Jimmy Carter for embracing these ideas and issuing: 1) EO 11988 to embed these principles within Federal agencies, and 2) EO 12127 to build an organization to champion the EO 11988 principles and ensure that the entire Federal family would consistently embrace these principles.

Michael Mierzwa has served the public as a flood manager for over 25-years, including 5 years as California’s State Floodplain Manager at the California Department of Water Resources. In addition to being a student of American History and champion of new and innovative approaches to water management, Michael is known for never missing an opportunity to sneak in a baseball, Star Trek or Star Wars reference. He credits these pop culture influences for always expecting the unexpected and making the most out of what you have – a philosophy of great planners and leaders.

Further Reading

White, G. F. “Human Adjustments to Floods. Research Paper 29. Department of Geography, University of Chicago.” (1945).

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11988.html

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/12127.html