The Austin City Council adopted the latest in a series of measures intended to improve the city's stormwater resilience after experiencing repeated flooding events in the past decade.
The Austin City Council last week adopted a "resolution that incorporates a range of initiatives to improve flood mitigation infrastructure, expand disaster response training and provide vulnerable households access to affordable flood insurance," reports Kali Bramble.
The resolution "encourages the city to make maximal use of funding available for flood resilience projects," according to Bramble. "In addition to directing the city manager to seek funding for infrastructure improvements at the state and federal level through organizations like FEMA, it calls for connecting vulnerable communities with disaster preparedness and response training."
The resolution also "builds upon work done by the city’s Watershed Protection Department, affirming the city’s commitment to tightening regulations on future development and investing in flood mitigation infrastructure such as gutters and drainage swales."
The source article details how the Halloween floods of 2013 and 2015 contributed to the political will to achieve this new priority on flood control in Austin. The City Council also approve the resolution while the city was under a flash flood warning.
FULL STORY: Council approves flood resilience resolution ahead of anniversary of devastating floods
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association