Boulder County Resilience Lessons Learned
Devon Santy, Associate Landscape Designer/Planner, ASLA, Stan Clauson Associates, Inc.
On the importance of learning lessons to inform local resilience planning
Our world is in constant flux. From global issues like climate change and energy security to local processes like elections and natural disasters, changes must be anticipated and prepared for whether they are planned or unforeseen. Planners play critical roles in directing how our communities and cities meet challenges of all kinds. Planning for change at any scale is in essence, “resilience planning.”
Today every planner ought to be familiar with 100 Resilient Cities, a program pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation to facilitate resilience planning for cities around the world. 100 Resilient Cities defines City Resilience as “the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.” Most importantly, this definition does not focus on preparing for natural disasters alone; rather it promotes preparedness for all kinds of disturbances at various temporal scales. Furthermore this definition considers the capacity of many different sectors of a city to prepare for stresses. In the 100 Resilient Cities program, member cities can efficiently share information to learn from each other as they plan their resilient futures. Information exchange and lessons learned from other communities with similar experience is one of the most important tools communities have during the resilience planning process.
Government department caught by surprise; learns on the fly
Flooding events like that of September, 2013 in the Colorado Front Range cannot be predicted. Like most potential disturbances, however, they can be anticipated and planned for. During my tenure with the Boulder County Transportation Department, I helped with the flood recovery process and witnessed lessons being learned first-hand. In the focused realm of private property access, the Department was not ready for such a catastrophic event. Despite the records of past floods in the Flood Information Reports used to enforce floodplain development regulations, the process of getting people safe and permitted access back to their homes was like building an airplane while learning to fly it.
With respect to private bridges damaged or destroyed by the flood, one of the principal impediments to quick recovery was an outdated policy that required an unrealistic conveyance of flood waters in the constricted foothill canyons. The Transportation Department hired a consultant to examine the current policy and effective regulations of municipalities with similar topography and hydrology. The result was a revised policy that allows bridges to be constructed with conveyance for 10-year floods rather than the unrealistic 100-year floods required in the old policy. Other changes to private bridge design criteria including requirements for foundation depth and resistance of the span to hydraulic forces aim to balance damage resistance with the challenges of replacing a damaged bridge. The revised policy will allow for final resolution of the current rebuilding effort in a timely manner, as well as expedite recovery from future disasters.
In the name of resilience, various teams within the department worked to develop solutions and procedures that can provide guidance to future generations of Department employees and residents alike. From debris clean up, to private bridge replacement, to creek master planning, the Boulder County Transportation Department has documented their effective strategies and where appropriate developed new policy and procedures for efficient recovery from future floods. This documentation has set a precedent for other local governments to follow.
Grass roots resilience planning effort blossoms as flood waters recede
Following the September 2013 flood event, local government and community organizations realized the need for resilience initiatives to be put into place in Boulder County. The City of Boulder was accepted into the 100 Resilient Cities program as one of the first 32 member cities, thanks in part to its response to the disaster and subsequent planning for future disasters. Elsewhere in Boulder County, resilience planning is developing as a more grass-roots effort, thanks to cooperation between various organizations and municipalities that understand the need for coordinated efforts. BoCo Strong has sprung up as a local organization bringing government representatives from the county and local towns to the same table as local businesses, NGOs, stakeholders, and local citizens. BoCo Strong’s definition of Community Resilience: “Enhancing our ability to manage and adapt to change (both abrupt and gradual) in social, economic, physical, and natural systems” aligns with the short and long term considerations of the 100 Resilient Cities definition, and has capacity to focus on local challenges and define its own methods.
BoCo Strong facilitated 22 meetings around Boulder County to learn from county residents’ experience during the flood response and recovery effort. The information and opinions collected have helped the organization define its plan of action and goals. Among many other important responses, common themes from the meeting participants included needs for improved communication between disaster victims and the government, as well as a need for Boulder County to have better procedures in place to respond to disasters. This doesn’t come as a surprise given the difficulties with private access.
Building on the impressive response from the meeting participants, BoCo Strong has developed a plan defined by four goals for their efforts to build community resilience for Boulder County. They will be using this plan to apply for a Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Regional Resilience Planning Grant. The four goals paraphrased here, present an example of resilience planning that accounts for lessons learned locally and beyond.
- Create a County-wide resilience network to strengthen connections, deepen understanding, and leverage resources.
- Support the development and launching of an independent local Volunteer Organizations Aiding in Disasters (VOAD) group.
- Develop and apply a common approach and methodology for county-wide resilience assessment.
- Increase neighborhood capacity, preparedness, and resilience.
Final thoughts
BoCo Strong included learning from disturbances as a guiding principle of the organization. As described, Boulder County Transportation Department has translated lessons from the flood recovery effort into important plans and policies to inform the next occurrence. An important reminder is necessary here: planners can help initiate resilience planning that anticipates shocks and stresses of all types to social, cultural, and infrastructural systems. If the focus remains on natural hazards alone, we miss the true meaning of “resilience,” a term with much more holistic connotations. Planners can initiate interdisciplinary projects locally, which capitalize on lessons from similar communities with similar disturbances. In doing so, planners will help create stronger, more resilient communities for the future.
Devon Santy is a planner and landscape designer with Stan Clauson Associates, Inc. in Aspen. He formerly worked for the Boulder County Transportation Department, where he worked with flood-affected properties. He holds a Master’s Degree in landscape architecture and an Bachelors of Science in in geology.
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