About the Flood Resiliency Blueprint

Purpose

The Flood Resiliency Blueprint will be a resource for riverine and stream management and support the establishment and furtherance of local government stormwater maintenance programs to reduce flooding in North Carolina. The project will explore and learn from examples of similar work in other states and identify major watersheds affected by flooding through the incorporation of existing and future flood risk projections to ultimately direct funds toward activities that best support the creation of an actionable blueprint. The main objective of the blueprint is to form a set of prioritized projects and funding strategies that the State can implement in each of North Carolina’s 17 River Basins.

Goals and Strategies

Goals	Strategies
Develop an online decision support tool which seamlessly guides state, county, municipal, and other jurisdictions to identify and select flood mitigation strategies responsibly, systematically, equitably, and transparently.	Online Decision Support Tool Develop an online decision support tool to allow end users (e.g., state agencies and regional and local governments) to seamlessly visualize flood vulnerability for different flood risk conditions and choose from a suite of flood mitigations strategies (e.g., nature-based solutions, structural and nonstructural approaches, etc.) based on the best available data and models available. The tool will produce output products such as planning-level cost estimates, potential funding sources, and evaluation of costs and benefits of proposed actions at the basin and sub-basin scale throughout the state.
Develop community and basin-specific risk management processes to identify and address flooding for NC communities.	Basin-specific Action Strategies Develop River Basin Specific Action Strategies for prioritized major river basins in NC to validate decision support tool and identify priority geographic areas for additional modeling efforts to support a common, statewide model.
Establish a repeatable, statewide methodology for prioritizing, and selecting flood mitigation strategies for future implementation.	Blueprint Process Document Develop a documented process for conducting flood resiliency planning at multiple scales which can be applied anywhere in the state, taking into account NC basins have different flood exposure, data and modeling needs, and/or capacity. Long-term Administration of Blueprint: Design a program that allows for long-term repeatability of the decision-support tool and other Blueprint elements including, but not limited to, capacity building for municipal and state government end users, updating key data and modeling inputs, and long-term basin planning. Governance and Decision Making: Recommendations for a governing body to evaluate/approve flood mitigation projects and/or additional modeling/data needs for funding (e.g. DOT, DEQ, municipal, etc.)

Goals

Strategies

Develop an online decision support tool which seamlessly guides state, county, municipal, and other jurisdictions to identify and select flood mitigation strategies responsibly, systematically, equitably, and transparently.

Online Decision Support Tool

Develop an online decision support tool to allow end users (e.g., state agencies and regional and local governments) to seamlessly visualize flood vulnerability for different flood risk conditions and choose from a suite of flood mitigations strategies (e.g., nature-based solutions, structural and nonstructural approaches, etc.) based on the best available data and models available. The tool will produce output products such as planning-level cost estimates, potential funding sources, and evaluation of costs and benefits of proposed actions at the basin and sub-basin scale throughout the state.

Develop community and basin-specific risk management processes to identify and address flooding for NC communities.

Basin-specific Action Strategies

Develop River Basin Specific Action Strategies for prioritized major river basins in NC to validate decision support tool and identify priority geographic areas for additional modeling efforts to support a common, statewide model.

Establish a repeatable, statewide methodology for prioritizing, and selecting flood mitigation strategies for future implementation.

Blueprint Process Document

Develop a documented process for conducting flood resiliency planning at multiple scales which can be applied anywhere in the state, taking into account NC basins have different flood exposure, data and modeling needs, and/or capacity.

Long-term Administration of Blueprint: Design a program that allows for long-term repeatability of the decision-support tool and other Blueprint elements including, but not limited to, capacity building for municipal and state government end users, updating key data and modeling inputs, and long-term basin planning.
Governance and Decision Making: Recommendations for a governing body to evaluate/approve flood mitigation projects and/or additional modeling/data needs for funding (e.g. DOT, DEQ, municipal, etc.)

Key Terms

Definitions in this document were informed by trusted and vetted sources including accepted federal and state agency definitions.