1. Tulsa's Risk MAP Program Goals
Bill Robison, PE, CFM, City of Tulsa, Lead Stormwater Planner
Janet Meshek, PE, CFM, Meshek & Associates, PLC, Principal Engineer

2. Tulsa – a National Leader
City of Tulsa joined the (NFIP) 1971
Has participated in the Community Rating System (CRS) since 1991
Currently holds a CRS rating of 2

3. Tulsa – a National Leader
Beyond the 100-Year (1%) Standard
Ultimate watershed urbanization.
Watershed-wide regulation.
Stormwater detention.
Compensatory storage
Ultimate watershed urbanization.
Development permitted today may well flood tomorrow as uphill urbanization increases runoff if based on current urbanization.
Watershed-wide regulation.
Each watershed is an interactive element of the whole.
A change at one place can cause changes elsewhere, whether planned or inadvertent.
Stormwater detention.
New or substantially improved developments must detain the excess stormwater on site
Water from detention basins is released slowly downstream.
Valley storage
Flood water cannot be compressed.
Tulsa requires compensatory storage if a development would reduce valley storage.

4. Tulsa – a National Leader
Beyond the 100-Year (1%) Standard
Freeboard.
Permits and performance standards.
Planning
City-Wide Master Plan.
Freeboard.
NFIP regulations require finished floors to be at or above the BFE, based on existing watershed conditions.
Tulsa requires finished floors to be at least 1 foot above the regulatory flood elevation, based on ultimate watershed urbanization.
Permits and performance standards.
Tulsa requires a Watershed Development Permit to be issued before developing, redeveloping, building, excavating, grading, regrading, paving, landfilling, berming, or diking of any property within the city.
Planning and Capital Projects
In 1990, Tulsa faced up to its need for $500 million in corrective flood projects.
Actively preparing and constructing capital plans and projects
Includes structural, nonstructural and multi-objective projects.
City-Wide Master Plan.
In 1989, the city combined its various master drainage plans into one city-wide document:
The City of Tulsa Flood and Stormwater Management Plan,
This city-wide plan ranks and prioritizes hundreds of recommended projects, to guide capital scheduling.
Currently being updated as part of CRS re-certification

5. Tulsa – a National Leader
Beyond the 100-Year (1%) Standard
Capital projects
Acquisition and relocation.
Maintenance and Operation
Forecasting and Warning
Capital projects
The largest was the Mingo Creek Location Protection Project, authorized by Congress in 1986.
It cost $143M and relieves $32M per year in damages, at an average annual cost of $16M.
Acquisition and relocation.
Tulsa has cleared more than 1000 buildings from its floodplains.
The largest clearance came after the 1984 flood, when more than 300 single-family homes and 228 mobile homes pads were acquired and cleared.
Maintenance and Operation
Between 1980 and 1983, Tulsa increased it’s M&O spending from $400,000 to $6,000,000 on stormwater maintenance.
The difference was the Stormwater Utility Fee.
The maintenance program's first goal is to keep systems operating at full capacity.
The system includes:
Hundreds of miles of surface channels and floodplains,
Thousands of miles of underground sewers,
Public detention basins,
Pump stations,
Roadside ditches,
Bridges, and
Curbs and inlets along the street system.
Forecasting and Warning
Flash floods require the earliest possible warnings.
Tulsa's warning system works in cooperation with:
National Weather Service,
news media,
TAEMA, and
the City of Tulsa.
Tulsa’s ALERT system includes:
39 rain, 19 stream, and seven detention pond gages that report changes as they happen.
The system is based on detailed basin inventories.
It includes a hydrologic program that develops stream and flood forecasts, to be released for appropriate action before flooding occurs.

6. Tulsa CTP History Became a Cooperating Technical Partner (CTP) in 2002
On hold during MAPMOD.
FEMA’s goal is to have state CTP’s
City of Tulsa remained a community CTP as FEMA recognized the City’s accomplishments as a national leader with a CRS rating of 2

7. Tulsa CTP History Became active in 2011 as Risk MAP was rolled out
Prepared Mapping Activity Statement (MAS) No. 1 in 2011 to provide mapping and planning in the newly annexed areas in Wagoner County – awarded $625,000 in FEMA funds
Deployed Discovery in the Lower Verdigris HUC 8 watershed

8. Tulsa CTP Risk MAP Plan

9. Tulsa CTP Risk MAP Plan

10. CNMS Valid Streams v Model Age

11. Lower Verdigris River HUC 8

12. Lower Verdigris HUC 8 Discovery
Notification Letter

13. Discovery Data Request
ed or mailed to all community officials, requesting data to be used to develop Discovery database.

14. Markup Tool

15. Discovery Newsletter

16. Discovery Meeting

17. Plans for 2013 and beyond –
Complete Discovery Report for Lower Verdigris HUC 8
Prepare a Risk MAP project for the Harlow Creek HUC 12 watershed
Deploy Discovery for the Bird Creek HUC 8.
Provide a CTP/Risk MAP Project Prioritization for the City’s long-range program.

18. Questions?