SOUTH FORK—The Rio Grande County pre-hazard mitigation team is working with Congressman John Salazar and the Army Corps of Engineers to try and get support to remap the Rio Grande River through the county.

Todd Wright, the emergency manager for Rio Grande County believes that this project is the most urgent discussed at the pre-hazard mitigation meeting.

Remapping the area could take more than five years and cost around $500,000. Wright believes a good portion of that cost could be covered by grants and other federal sources.

Teams from around the San Luis Valley came together to prepare a general appendix for their regional pre-hazard mitigation plans.

Before the meeting the teams had established what they believed were the most important actions to take for each county. They decided how to best avoid damage to people and property in the event of a natural hazard, and which disasters were the most likely to occur in their particular area.

During the meeting the regional teams identified the six disaster situations that most urgently had to be prepared for. They are, remapping the floodplains, drought, wildfire, emergency infrastructure, outreach, and regulations for buildings, storm water, and sanitary.



For the complete article see the 01-28-2010 issue.

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