Unincorporated Maricopa County Storm Response Partnership

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2016

To prepare for the 2015/16 El Nińo storm season (Dec.1 to April 30), the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (FCD) worked with other Maricopa County departments and the Arizona Rock Products Association (ARPA-a private sector association) to design and coordinate a unified response plan. The purpose of the plan was to provide the public with proactive and useful storm and flood resources when serious storms approach. ARPA members (sand, rock, gravel companies) donated sand to help protect unincorporated Maricopa County residents. From October 9 to November 20, 2015, 10-15 employees from FCD and other County departments met weekly, then bi-weekly, to devise the response plan. A planning team with the following areas of knowledge was assigned to meet for two months: public communications, emergency management, information technology, management/administration, floodplain management and services, planning, engineering, operations and maintenance, hydrology, and meteorology. Being prepared had great benefits when the County received three consecutive storms one week in early January, 2016. The response plan was executed and worked well, and two unincorporated communities benefited from the sandbag part of the plan.