September 30, 2024
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States are critical for reducing large-scale flood risk: They receive and allocate federal funding, can more effectively manage water across watersheds, and can help under-resourced communities.
Successful leadership at the state level often involves an empowered leader, as well as a regional coordination entity. Such coordination leads to more effective flood projects, programs, and policies.
In this post, we’ll explore several examples of effective statewide leadership on flooding.
State-level leadership models
The American Flood Coalition believes that effective statewide flood resilience begins with an empowered and accountable leader, who has dedicated staffing and financial resources.
With these resources, leaders can establish statewide priorities, coordinate government actions, and connect funding sources to local projects. Leaders can also convene state agencies to incorporate flood resilience priorities into all aspects of state government.
No two states use the same model for resilience leadership. But there are some common models:
- A governor-appointed chief resilience officer who heads a state office of resilience.
- A chief resilience officer within a larger department.
- An existing department head who has the necessary authorities to manage statewide flood risk.
- A dedicated resilience advisor in the office of the governor.
Below are three examples of resilience leadership at the state level:
South Carolina’s chief resilience officer
South Carolina’s governor-appointed, cabinet-level chief resilience officer guides its Office of Resilience. As a stand-alone agency under the governor, the office has a 52-person staff and consistent state funding. This allows the chief resilience officer to carry out programs in flood protection and recovery. The office recently strengthened statewide collaboration by hiring watershed coordinators to support local communities identify and prioritize flood risk reduction projects, at both the local and regional scale. These coordinators report to the Resilience Planning Director.
New Jersey’s chief resilience officer
New Jersey’s chief resilience officer — appointed by the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) — promotes state resilience within the Office of Climate Resilience, a division under DEP. The office has 32-person staff and uses both federal and state funding to support its programs.
As the chief resilience officer is vice chair of the Interagency Council on Climate Resilience, New Jersey is also a model for interagency collaboration at the state level. This interagency leadership motivates changes that strengthen flood resilience in all areas of state government.
North Dakota’s director of the Department of Water Resources
North Dakota’s governor-appointed director leads the entire Department of Water Resources. With a 93-person staff and regular funding from the public state Resources Trust Fund, the director is well-equipped to manage flood resilience priorities, alongside other water concerns including drought.
The director allocates funding to prioritized projects via a commission of statewide representatives. In 2023, the department awarded $14 million for 61 local flood protection and water projects across the state.
Regional coordination models
States should invest in regional coordination at the watershed level, in addition to make resources available to leaders. Water flows across watersheds, which can span multiple communities and are not limited by jurisdictional boundaries. Formal regional coordination allows for communities to collaborate across these boundaries.
Coordinators can support communities prioritize and implement projects, as well as identify state and federal funding opportunities. They are uniquely suited to do this because they understand the geography of the region, the communities, and the factors that contribute to flooding.
Like state-level leadership, regional coordination varies by state. In each leadership model, states do the following when setting up regional coordination:
- Authorize watershed-based flood resilience entities statewide.
- Dedicate resources to establish and maintain watershed-based collaboration and coordination.
- Set a vision for how watershed-based entities interact with and advance state flood resilience priorities.
- Ensure non-governmental entities are represented in the leadership of regional entities.
Below are some models of regional leadership.
Texas’s regional flood planning groups
Created by the Texas Water Development Board, Texas’s 15 regional flood planning groups are based on major river basins. By requiring representatives from 12 specified sectors and non-voting members from state agencies, the state ensures that regional coordination includes many perspectives. Texas consolidates its 15 regional flood plans into a statewide flood plan, allowing it to better understand local perspectives and work toward building resilience throughout the state.
Minnesota’s watershed districts
Minnesota has 46 watershed districts, each of which is established by voluntary local petitions. Because districts are voluntary, however, they cover less than one third of the state. These watershed districts can levy taxes and issue bonds, which provides them with funding to carry out regional projects.
Since an entire regional district levies taxes, resources and benefits are shared among communities. Under-resourced communities are therefore more likely to benefit from resilience projects under regional coordination than if they were left to solve flood issues alone.
To align with statewide priorities, each district must submit watershed management plans to the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.
Louisiana’s watershed regions
The Louisiana Watershed Initiative created nine watershed regions across the state. Louisiana watershed regions bring together flood-affected communities to collectively make data-informed plans and decisions. The regions develop long-term watershed coalitions, work plans, and ideas for cross-jurisdictional resilience projects.
Establishing accountable and empowered leaders
AFC understands states’ roles in employing effective statewide leadership and supports states as they use these roles to advance flooding solutions.
Whether it’s a state flood leader, regional coordinators, watershed-based entities, or a combination of the three, accountable leadership is the first step in building effective and long-term statewide flood resilience.
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This post was authored by AFC Program Analyst Catie Malone.
