Overview
Minnesota now experiences more frequent and heavy rainfall events than ever recorded. As a result, communities are seeing record flooding and costly impacts to critical stormwater infrastructure. These challenges are expected to grow. Our Minnesota FloodWise Communities Extension program, delivered in collaboration with GLISA, helps local governments understand stormwater system vulnerability and take action through a no-cost technical assistance program.
- Who can participate?
- What is the time commitment?
- What is the process?
- What are the program deliverables?
- What are the benefits of participation?
The FloodWise Communities program is intended for small- to medium-sized local governments concerned about the impacts of flooding on stormwater systems. Participating communities will organize a collaborative project team of at least two motivated people. One team member must have decision making authority over stormwater infrastructure.
The program is typically completed over 6-8 months. Project teams can anticipate dedicating roughly 13-18 staff hours. Time commitment may vary depending on interest and capacity.
Through a series of trainings, workshops, independent work, and one-on-one support, the project team will collaboratively assess the vulnerability and adaptive capacity of their stormwater system. These steps build towards a vulnerability report and next steps that can be used to make decisions and take action.
Communities that participate in the FloodWise Communities program receive:
- A local climate profile, including customized climate information and support interpreting the data.
- A stormwater vulnerability assessment created collaboratively with the project team and that includes an early action roadmap.
- Resources to support next steps, including connections to a range of data, tools, partners, and resource providers.
Local governments in other Great Lakes states have participated in the FloodWise Communities program over the past decade through our partner, GLISA – NOAA’s Great Lakes RISA team. These communities have reported saving tens of thousands of dollars in consultant fees and anticipate ongoing savings in the future. They have used their program outputs to take a range of next steps including:
- Addressing workforce gaps
- Building collaborative, cross-department teams
- Communicating risk to community leaders and elected officials
- Developing local plans (e.g., hazard mitigation plans, stormwater management plans, etc.)
- Guiding and informing community engagement efforts
- Influencing capital improvement planning
- Securing funding and grants
- Updating stormwater design and fee structures