Chattanooga Flood Risk Reduction Initiative
US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BUILDING STRONG®
AUTHORIZATION: Section 22 of the 1974 Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA), Planning Assistance to States, (PAS).
TYPE OF PROJECT: Flood Risk Management
LOCATION: Chattanooga is located in Hamilton County, TN.
CONGRESSIONAL INTEREST: Fleischmann (TN-03), Alexander (TN), Corker (TN)
NON-FEDERAL SPONSOR: City of Chattanooga, TN
BACKGROUND:
· Phase I of the Regional Flood Preparedness Study included investigations in support of flood preparedness in the South Chickamauga Creek Watershed and vicinity in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This study is part of a comprehensive effort to improve flood preparedness in the city, and began in 2012 as a Pilot project under the Corps’ Silver Jackets Program. Phase II has a completed scope of work and is scheduled to begin in July 2013.
IMPORTANCE:
· The Chattanooga initiative builds upon the lessons learned from the May 2010 flood in Nashville and focuses the efforts of a group of federal, state, and local partners on managing flood risk in the Chattanooga and Hamilton County area. Federal partners committed to the effort include the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the offices of the National Weather Service (NWS) in Nashville and Morristown, Tennessee and the Ohio River Forecast Center, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Corps. State partners include the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency and Tennessee Department of Transportation. Both, Metro Nashville and Hamilton County have shown considerable support for Chattanooga’s initiative.
· The goal of this flood preparedness initiative is to provide real time information to emergency management decision makers in the community improving their ability to warn local residents and the media. General tasks include 1) developing models and inundation mapping for priority watersheds in Chattanooga and Hamilton County; 2) applying the Geographic Information System tool developed by Nashville to Chattanooga and Hamilton County to bring together real time gage data (stage and rainfall) from USGS and local input, map services from Chattanooga and Hamilton County, rainfall data from NWS and modeling and inundation information developed by the Corps; and 3) coordinating the development of a multi-agency, multi community team to address life-cycle flood risk planning in the Chattanooga Region now and in the future.
STATUS: Phase I is complete. The scope of work is complete for Phase II. Federal funds are available. Sponsor will sign the agreement in June 2013.
BUDGET ($): Estimated project costs are shown below.
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Phase II – Begin November 2013
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Total Estimated Cost
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558,000
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Federal Cost Estimate
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258,000
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Non-Federal Cost Estimate
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300,000
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Federal Funds Data
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Allocation thru FY 2012
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$0
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Allocation for FY 2013
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$108,000
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Balance to Complete
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$150,000
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President’s Budget for FY 2013
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0
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SCHEDULE:
FY2012 Scheduled Work: H+H task development, multi-agency coordination, reduction of flood risks for South Chickamauga watershed and Tennessee River.
FY2013 Scheduled Work: Phase I complete April 2013. Phase II agreements signed in October. Funds received in November 2013, Phase II is underway and scheduled to complete in January 2015.
FY2014 Scheduled Work: Complete H+H tasks, prepare report, and begin HEC-RTS components.
FY2015 Scheduled Work: Complete HEC-RTS components.
Completion: Phase I is complete.
For more information regarding Chattanooga Flood Preparedness, contact Tom Herbert, CELRN-PM-P, phone: (615) 736-7194, email: thomas.herbert@usace.army.mil