The North Platte Natural Resource District, located in Scottsbluff, is undertaking a planning effort to develop a “Multi-jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan” for the four county area, including all of Garden, Morrill, Banner, and Scotts Bluff Counties in coordination with the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NDNR), Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Each community, county, school district, and other special district located in the planning area are eligible, and encouraged, to participate in the planning process.

The hazard mitigation plan is a publicly-guided document that will identify each participant’s vulnerability to natural disasters such as flood, drought, earthquake, wildfire, winter storm, tornado/high wind storm, dam failure, etc. The plan will set goals for each participant, establish mitigation alternatives, and prioritize projects which can alleviate potential damages to property and provide protection when future disasters occur.

In order to reinforce the importance of hazard mitigation planning and to emphasize planning for disasters before they occur, the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000) legislation was signed into law on October 10, 2000 (Public

Law 106-390). This act established that a pre-disaster hazard mitigation program would be required before funding post-disaster mitigation projects. According to the DMA 2000, a community must have a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan in order to receive project grant funds. Once a hazard mitigation plan is developed and adopted, the jurisdiction will also be eligible for pre-disaster mitigation project grants to implement the mitigation solutions identified in the plan.

A series of three public meetings will be held around the District to receive public input and comments about the disaster types, problem areas, and potential mitigation solutions. Meetings have been scheduled for:

Tuesday, March 9th at 7:00 PM – Scottsbluff, North Platte NRD Office, 100547 Airport Road;

Wednesday, March 10th at 7:00 PM – Oshkosh , City Auditorium;

Tuesday, March 23rd at 7:00 PM – Bridgeport , Prairie Winds Community

Center, 424 N. Main St.

Once approved by both NEMA and FEMA, the North Platte NRD plan can be adopted by each local participating jurisdiction. North Platte NRD has hired JEO Consulting Group, Inc. to assist with the development of the plan over the next year. This project is being funded by federal cost-share from FEMA.

For more information on this planning effort contact Ron Cacek, General Manager, at (308) 632-2749 or cacek@npnrd.org.