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Nevada Silver Jackets

The vision of the Nevada Silver Jackets team is to serve as a catalyst in developing comprehensive and sustainable solutions to flood hazard issues, including mitigation planning, flood hazard mapping, risk reduction activities, response and recovery planning.

The core agencies will work with other State and Federal agencies to:

  • Enable effective and efficient sharing of information;
  • Increase and improve flood hazard identification, assessment, communication and outreach among local, state and federal agencies;
  • Foster leveraging of available agency resources;
  • Develop more comprehensive state flood risk management policies and strategies;
  • Facilitate strategic, integrated, life-cycle mitigation actions to reduce the threat, vulnerability and consequences of flooding in the State of Nevada;
  • Support Federal disaster response and recovery through development of mitigation strategies to capitalize on post-disaster mitigation opportunities;
  • Promote wise stewardship of the taxpayers’ investments.

The team’s goals are to:

  • Ensure continuous collaboration for flood mitigation, response and recovery activities before, during and after flooding.
  • Provide a forum for examining all types of solutions for flood risk management, including both non-structural and structural solutions.
  • Learn about partner agency programs, identify limitations and opportunities, and combine programs to create integrated, comprehensive and sustainable solutions.
  • Create a multi-agency technical resource for state and local agencies.
  • Provide assistance in implementing high priority flood mitigation actions identified in the Nevada State Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan.
  • Improve flood risk communication and outreach, present a unified inter-governmental message, and better educate and advise our mutual customers.
  • Identify and facilitate improvements to existing programs, policies and processes.
  • Identify other collaboration opportunities to combine resources and identify gaps in order to minimize duplication of effort.
  • Catalog and share information on past and future flood projects and initiatives.
  • Prioritize current and future initiatives individually and collectively.

Team Activities

Current Projects (FY18 and FY19)

Fort McDermitt Tribe Floodplain Mapping (FY18) 

The Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe has suffered from multiple flooding events in the recent past. This project will provide hydraulic analysis and floodplain mapping that will help the Tribe to make better informed decisions on use of the floodplain and surrounding land.   

Nevada Nature-Based Flood Mitigation (FY18)

The purpose of this project is to investigate and share best practices in the use of Natural and Nature Based Features (NNBF) as a consideration in flood risk reduction. The project supported two workshops in 2018 in Carson City and Las Vegas, focused on flood risk mitigation using natural and nature-based approaches, and two workshops in 2019 in Elko and Reno, focused on response, recovery, mitigation and preparation for flooding after wildfires (including NNBF and non-structural measures), are among the highlights of this project. Video products that will help educate professionals and others are expected to be part of the deliverables from this project effort.

Virgin and Muddy Rivers Story Maps (FY18)

The project supports an ongoing effort by the state to communicate the flood chronologies of all watersheds in the state. The project will develop and share the flood chronology of the Virgin River and Muddy River, using a digital tool called a Story Map.

Nevada Flood Awareness Education and Outreach (FY19)

Continued support for the annual Nevada Flood Awareness Week (scheduled for October 2019, dates TBD), and outreach throughout the year to help families and residents be more prepared and aware of their flood risk. Use of the video game "Flood Fighter: Nevada" to reach teachers and students is an ongoing part of the project, as well as establishing a presence at popular events such as the Reno River Festival in May 2019.

Carson Water Subconservancy District - Alluvial Fan Prioritization (FY19)

This project will identify hazards from alluvial fan flooding in the Carson River Watershed, and help decision-makers to prioritize actions to reduce risk.

 

Past Projects:

 

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Flood Plain Management Plan

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (Tribe), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nevada Division of Water Resources and Nevada Division of Emergency Management worked together to create a floodplain management plan for the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation. This plan increased flood risk awareness, communicated roles and responsibilities and assisted with disaster planning. The plan, a living document, is intended to align with the State Hazard Mitigation Plan, making the community eligible for various Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants. 

This effort brings the Tribe and agencies together to reduce the risk of current and future flooding, increase life safety, reduce property loss, and identify other opportunities for managing the watershed in an integrated fashion. The floodplain management plan will be a guide on how to manage flood risk and will help the community understand where and how to build. Carefully planned development will decrease future disaster expenditures and result in a more resilient community. This project was completed in February of 2017.

 

Dam Safety Outreach for Non-Corps Dams

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Nevada Division of Water Resources partnered together on this Dam Safety Outreach for Non-Corps Dams project. Nevada is the driest state in the United States, which is why many are surprised to discover that there are approximately 850 dams throughout the state.  This project helped raise awareness of dams in Nevada and the role they play in flood risk management.  This project was completed in September 2016.

Outreach materials developed for this project include a 6-minute dam safety informational video and Public Service Announcements, in both English and Spanish, all of which promote dam safety awareness in Nevada.  One of the main goals of the project was to educate local officials about the potential consequences of an incident with private dams that were built by mining companies and local communities.  The outreach materials provided information on the risk to life and property posed by dams with significant or high hazard designations.

Click here to view the Dam Safety Outreach video.

Communication of Nevada's Flood Risk- Multimedia

Awareness of flood risk is the first step in protecting life and property, and Public Service Announcements (PSAs) are a powerful medium to increase public awareness.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Nevada Division of Water Resources collaborated to create two 30 second video/TV PSAs in both English and Spanish to promote flood risk awareness in Nevada.  This project aimed to achieve the goals of increasing public awareness of flood risk and helping the public know what they can do to prepare for floods.  Click here to view the Nevada floods PSAs.  This project was completed in September 2016.

  

Nevada Flood Risk Awareness Project

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Nevada Division of Water Resources, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and National Weather Service collaborated on this comprehensive Nevada Flood Risk Awareness project.  The overarching purpose of this project was to raise awareness of local flooding risks and provide information to the public. Outreach was conducted through a variety of mediums.  A flood chronology informed the public of past flooding events in the two major river basins in Nevada: the Truckee River Basin and the Humboldt River Basin. Stories, photos, maps, and vignettes of various floods have and will be posted in the future on the USGS’s Nevada Flood Chronology website. To view a compilation of images from past flood events on the Humboldt River, click here (pdf, 993 KB). To view a compilation of images from past flood events on the Truckee River, click here (pdf, 1.3 MB).

Through this project, a series of nonstructural flood proofing workshops were held in October 2016 in Minden and Reno, NV.  The workshops informed local floodplain management officials and organizations of nonstructural flood proofing techniques and provided information on local flooding issues.  Lastly, this project helped support outreach efforts during Nevada’s 2016 Flood Awareness Week, which took place in November.  This project was completed in January of 2017.

Flooding in Battle Mountain, NV (1962)

Flooding in Battle Mountain, NV (1962)

Flooding in Lovelock, NV (2006)

Flooding in Lovelock, NV (2006)

Nevada Multimedia Continuation

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Nevada Division of Water Resources partnered together on the Nevada Multimedia Continuation project. Nevada has flooding issues, but many in Nevada do not know their flood risk.  It is critical to involve educators and students in educational activities, using innovative approaches, such as serious gaming. This project focused on the production of an educational video game called “Flood Fighter:Nevada.”  The video game creates awareness by educating its players on the importance of flood control through critical thinking in the setup and maintenance of a water management solution.  Players take the role of a Water Management Engineer as they try to prevent different towns from flooding.  The player monitors the inflow of water into the reservoir and controls the outflow of the dam into the river downstream.  “Flood Fighter” is targeted to middle school and high school students, with the intention of teaching Nevada students about flood risk.  This project was completed in March of 2017, and has been used in outreach activities throughout the state, and beyond. Download the game for free at www.nevadafloods.org

Nevada Silver Jackets

The vision of the Nevada Silver Jackets team is to serve as a catalyst in developing comprehensive and sustainable solutions to flood hazard issues, including mitigation planning, flood hazard mapping, risk reduction activities, response and recovery planning.

Silver Jackets logo 

What is Silver Jackets?

Silver Jackets is an innovative program that provides an opportunity to consistently bring together multiple state, federal, and sometimes tribal and local agencies to learn from one another and jointly apply resources to reduce flood risk. The Silver Jackets teams are state-led interagency teams.

 

No single agency has the complete solution — each has one or more pieces, similar to squares in a patchwork quilt. The Silver Jackets program can be viewed as the quilting bee, the forum where all agencies come together to put their programs together and implement a solution. To achieve communities that are sustainable and resilient to natural disasters, especially flooding, partnerships are an important part of success.

For More Information Contact

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Sacramento District, Email, 916-557-6700

Nevada Event Calendar

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