Silver Jackets Meeting Notes January 22, 2013

Meeting Starts: 10:00am

LIDAR Data for Sinkhole Vulnerability Assessment FGS/ FDEM

-FGS and FDEM are partnering for a sinkhole vulnerability assessment for the entire state funded through a potential HMGP project from Tropical Storm Debby. LIDAR information is not available for all of Florida and FGS is looking to get that information. A map of the state- wide inventory of LIDAR- derived elevation from DEM is shown, but there are large gaps in the map, especially inland. Possible solutions are that Water Management Districts have that data for both inland and coastal areas and USACE may have some data as well. If there are any remaining deficits after searching for available data, LIDAR data may have to be purchased. For any WMDs or agencies that have LIDAR information, please let Bill McCusker and Richard Butgereit know. There will be a follow- up call in about two to three weeks to see any progress made.

-Website with available LIDAR data from DEM: http://www.floridadisaster.org/gis/lidar/ Water Management District Updates

-South Florida WMD is working on EMAP and getting through operation questions so they can properly complete sections; working on issues with modeling; beginning vegetation variance for getting the levees into compliance; formed a high water mark strike team to find data; and beginning an after action report for Tropical Storm Isaac.

-The after action report for Tropical Storm Isaac will be important because this was the 100 year storm event for Palm Beach County. This report will capture what happened, how operations were managed, how to alleviate the flooding and provide future changes to improve the system. One project in particular would be improving a levee by Corbett Wildlife Preserve, which was particularly bad in the storm and if breached would have flooded over 5,000 homes. SF WMD is currently seeking federal funding for this, particularly HMGP funds.

-Southwest Florida WMD is continuing to collect and store high water mark data by surveying and collecting additional data from Tropical Storm Debby, which is now available on their website. There are also a number of new mapping projects with different stages of completion although all will be submitted this year through FEMA. LIDAR data is being used to also do watershed management plans and models. -Suwannee River WMD has two programs going on currently. The first is a map modernization where a majority of LIDAR data is coming from. The second is a rivers project where the cost share on some projects is coming from other counties and cities and these projects must meet four criteria (flood protection, water quality, water conservation, wetlands conservation).

-Northwest Florida WMD has LIDAR data available for entire district on their website which also provides all flood maps for the counties. Undergoing map modernization with FEMA and recently had some preliminary maps with FEMA for coastal analysis. Other coastal areas are still ongoing and they are anticipating all analyses will be available in June 2014. Also, they are working with FEMA on Risk MAP and stakeholders meetings for watersheds are coming up.

-St. Johns River WMD was not represented.

High Water Mark Data Updates

-Look through slides for all information of HWM. Still pursuing this further now that it is known where the gaps are. Looking at possibilities of outreach and training opportunities to promote furthering high water mark data input. Possible conference call next month to discuss further.

USACE Updates

- SWIF: USACE is working with WMDs that have levees for safety measures and to make sure there is federal funding for repairs. SWFWMD has a letter of intent currently being reviewed in Atlanta, which will then be sent to WA who will begin the next review. A letter of intent for SJRWMD will also be going through the same process once submitted. USACE has letter of intents from many different states, but only one has gone through. There have been requests for an outline of what a SWIF will look like, which was asked of headquarters and waiting on a reply. Hopefully within a month, there will be more outlines and guidance on this.

-Silver Jackets Annual Conference is generally in August with many attendees but due to budget cuts, that will not be happening. Silver Jackets is looking into the idea of having a virtual conference with a week of an array of webinars which would be open to anyone.

-Silver Jackets website is going to be set up so each state has its own webpage. Currently finding out more information on that and there will be a discussion with the representatives from each state what is needed on their webpage.

-Pilot projects: Currently looking for pilot projects which could be either of the following categories, flood issues or levee safety. The thing that is needed for proposals of projects is entire Silver Jacket group participation. Everyone should be involved with all of the possible different pieces to promote cooperation and coordination. Group should think about possible projects in Florida and put together some proposals because the call for proposals will come out in July or August. Working with DEM to put out some sort of outline of a proposal and what they are supposed to look like. Possibly in March or April, there will be a meeting for proposals information.

-Coordination of Silver Jackets during any flood or storm event (i.e. Sandy) is being looked into to try and get an idea of how these groups are functioning before and after an event. Silver Jackets should help with coordination within the different organizations by familiarity alone.

Sea Level Rise

-USACE and SE FL CC have coordinated before and are very interested in sea level rise (SLR). All projects with USACE must now take into consideration SLR for engineering regulations. A suggestion would be to look at both inland as well as coastal areas for SLR impacts. Glen Landards, from USACE, has been very involved and has information about SLR. LMSs can also use this information in their plans.

-SLR is typically done by region in terms of their vulnerability and willingness to work, but recognizing that WMDs, USACE, and Silver Jackets could work together to look at SLR vulnerability could provide better projections of location and depth of water. SLR could be assessed by region with WMDs to recognize vulnerability more sufficiently.

Additional Comments

-Southwest FL and South FL have been looking at rainfall projection tables which will be available this spring (possibly March). Those will replace the old series with longer term data which will increase the rainfall depth per rainfall event and prove to be problematic for various hydrologic sizes. This is something to take a look at when they come out because they will affect 100 year flood events and more, especially in North FL. Looking into possibility of having someone with NWS come out to present something in the spring.

-To keep meetings fresh and in perspective, attendees should come up with ideas of topics they would like to hear about. Possibly have some informative presentations from participating agencies to better understand what members of this group do, need requests (WMD, USACE, DEM, DEO, RPC, etc.)

-City of Live Oak Update: Currently working on long term recovery and the big issue is flooding. A partnership has developed between USACE and the City of Live Oak for master storm water planning. This will be a good model for future efforts to see how the partnership is taking place and this is all currently in the drafting of the agreement phase. -USACE can provide planning assistance to entities (state, county, city, and commonwealth) with an agreement that they come to the table with a 50/50 cost share. The maximum is $2 million a year and USACE provides planning assistance and engineering assistance.

Meeting Adjourned: 11:25 am