NCLS Webinar

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Announcement from the National Committee on Levee Safety:
The National Committee on Levee Safety is Hosting a Webinar for Tribes on March 11, 2011
The National Committee on Levee Safety is hosting an Informational Webinar for Tribes on March 11, 2011 from 2:00 – 3:30 PM Eastern Time. Representatives from federally recognized tribes and nations, state recognized tribes, or Native American communities are welcome to participate. The Committee especially encourages any tribes that own or maintain levees, plan to build a levee, or could be impacted by failure of a levee to join the Webinar. The attached fact sheet, Creating a National Levee Safety Program: An Overview for Native American Communities, provides more information on the Committee and on levees in general, and the attached announcement provides more information about the Webinar.
If you are interested in participating in the Webinar, please contact Patrick Tallarico of the Council Oak, our support contractor, at ptallarico@thecounciloak.com by March 9, 2011. He will send you a follow-up email with important details about how to join the Webinar. In the event of a Federal Government shutdown, we may need to postpone the call, so please be sure to register so that we can keep you informed.
Some brief background information about levees and the Committee is included below.
Levees across the nation are central tools in flood risk management, reducing the effects of floods on people, property, critical infrastructure, and the environment. However, risks of loss of life, property damage, and damage to cultural and natural resources behind levees are increasing. The events following Hurricane Katrina made this painfully clear.
Although there is a Levee Safety Program that addresses levees under the authorities of the US Army Corps of Engineers and some states have their own levee safety programs, there is no national program to coordinate policies and programs impacting this important piece of our infrastructure. This is why Congress developed the National Levee Safety Program Act of 2007 and established the National Committee on Levee Safety. They charged the Committee with developing recommendations for a National Levee Safety Program, including a strategic implementation plan.
The Committee began meeting in late 2008 and developed a draft Report to Congress on Recommendations for a National Levee Safety Program (http://www.leveesafety.org/docs.cfm) in early 2009. The Committee is currently reaching out to American Indian tribes and nations (including Alaska Native Villages), states, and local governments to discuss the information in their report and the recommendations related to the proposed National Levee Safety Program. The Committee is particularly interested in engaging tribes and nations to understand their concerns related