Right Responses to Flooding
Thursday 12 June 2008
by: The Capitol Times | Editorial

Floods are characterized as natural disasters. But what man does defines the extent of the disaster. Dane County Supervisor Brett Hulsey understands this better than most public officials. Hulsey is an expert on policy issues related to flooding.

The environmental activist and consultant won the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Distinguished Public Service Award in 2000 for his work to aid victims of flooding and to restore wetlands in order to reduce flooding. The author of a series of well-regarded reports on flooding issues, Hulsey recognizes that the immediate challenge for Wisconsin - a state that has been devastated by flooding in recent days - is to help families who lost their homes, farmers whose crops and grazing lands are under water, and communities that have been devastated.

“The human cost of these floods is tragic and we need to help the flood victims get their lives back as quickly as possible,” says Hulsey, who urges immediate action to secure FEMA assistance for the hardest-hit counties - something Gov. Doyle and our congressional representatives are working on - and private donations to the American Red Cross and other groups that are providing disaster aid.

But the president of Better Environmental Solutions also reminds us that “there are steps that citizens, and local, state and federal policymakers can take to protect citizens and reduce the risk of this happening in the future.”

Hulsey has released a list of steps that can and should be taken by local, state and federal officials to assure that Wisconsin is never hit this hard again:

1. Check all dams, levees, bridges and culverts for safety.
2. Elevate and/or buy out (voluntarily) flooded properties rather than rebuilding in flood plains.
3. Update flood plain maps and strengthen zoning rules to protect people and homes from future flooding.
4. Increase protection for wetlands, forests and other natural habitats that can reduce flooding significantly, like Sen. Russ Feingold's Clean Water Restoration Act.
5. Take measures to reduce greenhouse air pollution 60 percent by 2050. Greenhouse gasses are linked to increased extreme climate change like the rain and snow events we are experiencing.

Wisconsinites who are struggling to wrap their heads around what has happened to their state in a week that has seen one of our best-known lakes drained and seen water flow to places it has rarely if ever been seen before know that we must first respond to immediate suffering and challenges.

But the response must be about more than applying Band-Aids. We must go to the root causes and address them. And the best place to begin is by following Brett Hulsey's advice.

Read/download the Better Environmental Solutions News Steps to Reduce Flood Risks, Keep People Safe