Group will help guide updating process to County Hazard Mitigation and Community Wildfire Protection Plans
information released, file photo
Chelan County and its partners seek volunteers to serve on a new steering committee that will help guide next year’s updating process to the Chelan County Hazard Mitigation and Community Wildfire Protection plans, two important plans used to identify natural hazards and their risks to the area.
The steering committee will meet six to eight times in the next year. All meetings, which will be held at the Confluence Technology Center in Wenatchee, are open to the public and will be listed on the informational website: https://www.co.chelan.wa.us/natural- resources/pages/natural-hazard-mitigation-plan
This month, local government stakeholders in the Chelan County planning area initiated a federally mandated update to the two plans. The plans must be updated every five years. The 2019 plans are posted to the website and the updated plan is expected to be approved by the end of 2024.
The planning partnership is made up of Chelan County; the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Entiat and Chelan; Cascadia Conservation District; Chelan County Flood Control Zone District and local fire districts. Responding to federal mandates in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390), the planning partnership was formed to pool resources and create a uniform hazard mitigation strategy that can be consistently applied to the Chelan County planning area.
A hazard mitigation plan describes an area’s vulnerability to the various natural hazards present within the county, along with an array of actions and projects for reducing key risks.
“While natural disasters cannot be prevented from occurring, implementing mitigation strategies can make communities more sustainable and disaster-resilient, and protect people and property,” said Lisa Dowling, natural resources specialist at Chelan County Natural Resources.
By updating the plan every five years, planning partners also remain eligible for mitigation grant funding opportunities through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Since 2018, local governments in Chelan County have received more than $6 million in FEMA grant funds for mitigation projects, including wildfire fuels reduction, property acquisition, stormwater management, and flood water storage and diversion projects. This current plan update process is also funded by a FEMA grant.
In the coming year, citizens also will be asked to contribute to the planning process by sharing local knowledge of an area’s vulnerability to hazards based on past occurrences. Public involvement will be solicited via a multi-media campaign that will include public meetings, web-based information and surveys. The informational website will serve as the primary means for the public to gain information on the plan’s progress and ways that they can participate in the planning process.
“The public will have several opportunities, whether by serving on the steering committee, sharing thoughts through polls and emails, or attending a public meeting, to become involved in this update process,” Dowling said. “We encourage input on all phases of this important plan’s development.”
People interested in serving on the steering committee should contact Dowling at Lisa.Dowling@co.chelan.wa.us.
