Flood Risk Management: Silver Jackets (ND)

Purpose

Silver Jackets teams are collaborative, state-led, interagency teams that are continuously working together to reduce flood risk at the state level. Through the Silver Jackets program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, additional federal, state, and sometimes local and tribal agencies provide a unified approach to addressing a state’s flood risk priorities. Often, no single agency has the complete solution, but each may have one or more pieces to contribute.

Location

Silver Jackets team activities and projects occur throughout North Dakota.

Description

The Silver Jackets program has multiple primary goals:

• Facilitate strategic lifecycle flood risk reduction;
• Create or supplement a continuous mechanism to collaboratively solve state-prioritized issues and implement or recommend those solutions;
• Improve processes, identifying and resolving gaps and counteractive programs;
• Leverage and optimize resources;
• Improve and increase flood risk communication, and present a unified interagency message; and
• Establish close relationships to facilitate integrated post-disaster recovery solutions.

The North Dakota Flood Risk Management Silver Jackets team has been active since 2009 and formally adopted a charter in 2010 (revised April 2014). The team conducts annual meetings and supplemental meetings as necessary and is co-led by the Corps’ St. Paul and Omaha districts. The team participates in regional and national flood risk management planning events.

Status

The North Dakota Silver Jackets team currently has four interagency projects in North Dakota (grouped into one work package). Phases 1 through 3 will be completed in fiscal year 2020.

Projects:

• Mouse (Souris) River Flood Inundation Mapping Project, Phase 1, Burlington to Verendrye.
• Mouse (Souris) River Flood Inundation Mapping Project, Phase 2, Verendrye to Manitoba.
• Mouse (Souris) River Flood Inundation Mapping Project, Phase 3, Sherwood to Lake Darling, to be completed December 2020.
• Mouse (Souris) River Flood Inundation Mapping, Phase 4, for the Des Lacs River will begin in fiscal year 2020.

Authority

The Silver Jackets team is a national coordination program activity funded by various authorities: Section 206 of the Flood Control Act of 1960; Section 22 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1974; and the Flood Control Act of 1955 (PL 84‒99).

Funding

Total Federal Funds Allocated to Date

Fiscal Years 2013‒2020                               $1,396,000