The High Water Mark - Volume 32, Issue 4

THE HIGH WATER MARK

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 2022 - Volume 32, Issue 4

THE HIGH WATER MARK

The Newsletter of the Floodplain Management Association

November 2022 - Volume 32, Issue 4

Mission: To promote the common interest in reducing flood losses and to encourage the protection and enhancement of natural floodplain values.

Chair Mike Nowlan Wood Rodgers, Inc. 916.326.5277

Vice Chair Brent Siemer City of Simi Valley 805.583.6805

Secretary Vince Geronimo Mead & Hunt 916.993.4606

Treasurer Connie Perkins-Gutowsky California DWR 916.973.3008

Past Chair Alex Yescas HDR, Inc. 858-712-8283

Director Abigail Mayrena Clark County RFCD 702-685-0000

Director John Moynier Parsons Corporation

Director Wendy Wang Central Valley Flood Protection Board

Director Brian Brown California DWR

Director Darren Suen Central Valley Flood Protection Board 916.574.0609

Director Millicent Cowley-Crawford Woodard & Curran 415.321.3421

Director Hilal ElHaddad Riverside County Flood Control and Water

Director Pat Wood Los Angeles County DPW 626.458-6131

Director Roger Leventhal Marin County DPW 415.473.3249

Director Megan LeRoy California DWR

Director David Smith WEST Consultants, Inc. 858.487.9378

Advisor Kelly Soule California DWR 916.574.1205

Advisor Jose Lara CA Governor’s Office of Emergency Services 916.845.8883

Advisor Stefani Lukashov California Geological Survey 916.445.1825

Advisor Salomon Miranda California DWR 818.549.2347

Advisor Stefani Lukashov NOAA

Advisor Eric Simmons FEMA Region IX 510.627.7029

Advisor Erin Warnock Nevada DWR 775.684.2890

Advisor Jeanne Ruefer HWC, Inc. 775.722.7395

Advisor Carol Tyau-Beam Hawaii DLNR 808.587.0267

Executive Director Mary Seits FMA 760.936.3676

Kleinfelder’s decades of experience and comprehensive knowledge of the significant risks our communities face allows us to effectively partner with local, state, and federal agencies to reduce the probability of catastrophic flooding.

We provide a full range of services on dams and levee projects that include environmental and geotechnical engineering and construction materials testing.

A NOTE FROM THE CHAIR

It is nearing the end of 2022 and this year’s in-person conference in Sacramento placed a rubber stamp on it! FMA is very excited to report that our annual conference was a resounding success, because of all of you! The conference was a mixture of many of the tried and true elements, with plenty of interactive panels and dynamic technical presentations and fun events, with some new elements as well. This year we attempted to tackle many issues head on relating to Diversity/Equity/Inclusion and engaging our emerging professionals group with some robust topics and discussions. We held an informal lunch to find those people who are willing to join our committees. We even employed an affordable method of recording many of the presentations and panels via audio and screen capture. Sorry, it was not affordable to put cameras in each and every room to capture the faces of those attending the sessions. We may have our work cut out for us in teaching everyone to properly use a microphone though. We are thinking about employing headsets to capture every word from all of the more timid and less trained (with a microphone) individuals amongst us.

We certainly will have our challenges in the coming year, but I’m confident that our floodplain management community will tread boldly through it together. By the way, I’m not referring to the metaphor of “treading water”, though it may feel that way to some. Some of the challenges will involve shaping FEMA’s NFIP reform and engaging our public officials on flood issues during a drought. One of the most significant challenges FMA will face in the next 6 months will be getting someone to replace our beloved Executive Director, Mary, and get the planning process for next year’s conference underway. Fear not! We have candidates interested in the position and we have conducted interviews and will conduct negotiations (hopefully) before the end of the year.

While no one seems willing to call an end to the pandemic we have all come through, FMA is confident that our floodplain community is a strong and resilient one. There may have been some of us who elected to not attend the in-person conference this year, but everyone’s contribution is to be applauded, working from home or back in the office. There will be lasting changes from 2020 in our workplaces for years to come, but there is nothing better than having face-to-face interactions, with the FMA Conference being a prime example.

Cheers, Mike Nowlan

SAVE THE DATE

Floodplain Management Association Annual Conference September 5-8, 2023

Westin Bonaventure Hotel – Los Angeles, CA

FEDERAL/NATIONAL NEWS

For an update of the latest disaster declarations: CLICK HERE

For information on Flood Insurance Reform – Rates and Refunds: CLICK HERE

Advisor Update

FEMA Updates for FMA Board:

• A Federal continuing resolution was passed on September 30, 2022, averting a government shutdown and extending authorization for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until November 16, 2022. The new funding law also includes almost $19 billion for FEMA disaster relief.

• Widespread damage in Florida and South Carolina from flooding during Hurricane Ian is resulting in insured losses at over $50 billion. The President declared a major disaster with FEMA now authorized to help individuals in 13 counties pay for temporary housing, home repairs, and with low-interest loans to cover uninsured losses. Unfortunately the lack of insurance will make disaster suffering worse.

• Funding for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program more than doubled to nearly $2.3 billion this year while Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) sees an increase to $800 million.

• Disclosing flood risk during real estate transactions is a timely and effective way to raise awareness and drive risk-informed decisions. FEMA has created the Flood Risk Disclosure: Model State Requirements for Disclosing Flood Risk During Real Estate Transactions resource to help states and tribes develop or refine existing real estate disclosure laws or mandated disclosure forms to strengthen their flood risk disclosure mechanisms. A report is available on FEMA’s website

• A report on ecosystem values with an updated set of land cover categories for FEMA’s BCA toolkit was issued. This work recognizes the value of investing in nature-based solutions for mitigating the impacts of development in floodplains, wildfire urban interface, etc.

• FEMA is publishing updated standards and guidance for Risk MAP around November 2022. Current guidelines and standards are online

• All flood insurance policies and renewals under the NFIP continue to transition to updated Risk Rating 2.0 rates.

California

DWR Awards $5 Million for Delta Communities to Improve Flood Emergency Response

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced awarding $5 million in funding for seven emergency response agencies within the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta to increase their ability to respond to flood emergencies. This funding will help to improve the emergency response efforts for first responders and help these communities prepare for threats of flooding in the Delta, which is increasingly vulnerable to flood ing from storm events and sea level rise.

https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2022/ Nov-22/DWR-Awards-5-Million-for-DeltaCommunities-to-Improve-Flood-Emergency-Response

Amid Climate-Driven Extremes in Weather, California Highlights the Importance of Preparing for Flooding, Even During Historic Drought

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) today commemorated the start of Flood Preparedness Week, which runs October 22 through October 30, by encouraging residents to prepare for flood season.

“While we are preparing for a fourth year of extreme drought, we still need to plan for swings between severely dry conditions and large storms and flooding,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “Just last year, December brought record-breaking precipitation to some parts of the state and was followed by the driest January, February, and March on record. That was a wake-up call for all Californians that we must prepare for both drought and flood conditions at the same time.”

https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2022/ Oct-22/California-Highlights-the-Importance-ofPreparing-for-Flooding

The Central Valley Flood Protection Plan Update - released November 4, 2022

Available Here

DWR Awards $50.4 Million to Protect California Communities from Flood Risk

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today announced awarding $50.4 million in funding for 18 flood management and protection projects across the state. This funding will support local agency efforts to prepare for flooding by planning and implementing flood risk reduction projects related to stormwater, flooding, mudslides, and flash floods. Although California is entering a fourth year of drought, climate extremes require preparing for the increased risk of flooding even during a drought.

https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases/2022/ Oct-22/DWR-Awards-over-50-Million-to-ProtectCalifornia-Communities-from-Flood-Risk

New Flood System Repair Program (FSRP) Guidelines 2021 Update Now Available

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR), Flood Maintenance and Operations Branch (FMO) is pleased to announce that the new Flood System Repair Program Guidelines 2021 Update (PDF) is now available.  The Flood System Repair Program (FSRP) is a flood risk reduction program, consistent with the State Systemwide Investment Approach (SSIA) as identified in the 2017 Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP).  Under FSRP, DWR may execute cost share agreements with the Local Maintaining Agencies (LMAs) to repair documented prioritized problems on the facilities of the State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC).  California Central Valley homeowners, businesses, and the agricultural industry are protected from flooding by more than 1500 miles of SPFC levees.  FSRP repairs assist in maintaining a dependable levee system for flood protection of these valuable assets.  FSRP is a proven cost-effective program for maintaining the current level of flood protection provided by SPFC facilities, primarily in non-urban areas while advancing DWR initiatives for Economically Disadvantages Areas (EDAs).

https://water.ca.gov/News/Public-Notices/2022/ Oct-22/FSRP-Guidelines-2021-Update-Now-Available

STATE NEWS

Hawaii

(Continued)

See the latest news stories relating to Hawaii’s floodplain management issues. For the transformed flood information platform from Hawaii visit their exciting weekly blog at https://waihalana.hawaii.gov/

Some of the latest postings relate to hurricane prepared ness, stewarding our environment, and Flood Insurance.

For archived Wai Halana Newsletters (prior to 2018) https://dlnreng.hawaii.gov/nfip/wai-halana/

Nevada

The Nevada Floodplain Management Program has been active with in person outreach at several different events in northern Nevada from the Genoa Candy Dance to the Fallon Cantaloupe Festival & Country Fair. A notable event is the installation of another High Watermark which was unveiled August 11th in Carson City. This High Watermark includes a beautiful mural that marks the highest height of flood waters along with an interpretive sign that describes the historic events and provides links to flood preparedness information. Our office participated in planning and supporting the successful unveiling event. Our 9th annual Nevada Flood Awareness Week is November 13th-19th and we will participate in person outreach events in Carson City, Douglas County and Storey County. We will also be sharing lots of great information via social media (Nevada Floods on Facebook) so keep an eye out! If you’re local to Northern Nevada you’ll also find an ad featured the free quarterly magazine Growing Up Reno Tahoe. Just as we have done in the past, we submitted a request for a Governor’s Proclamation recognizing Nevada Flood Awareness Week. Some of our local communities including Carson City and Storey County will also be officially proclaiming Nevada Flood Awareness Week. Some of our partners have also funded other multimedia campaigns to support this annual effort.

Nevada Silver Jackets projects have been keeping us busy this time of year and have been a driving force for trainings delivered to our local Floodplain Managers. In September we hosted an in person Nevada Flood

Mitigation and Funding Opportunities Workshop in Washoe County. Then in October we hosted a condensed Nevada Flood Mitigation and Funding Opportunities Workshop version virtually. On November 8th and 9th we will be hosting virtually the Nevada Watershed University Summit which will have a focus on Floodplain Management in Arid Regions. In early 2023 we plan to host our final in person Nevada Flood Mitigation and Funding Opportunities Workshop in Southern Nevada. Additionally, Silver Jackets projects have included the development of an informational pamphlet for teachers that summarize all of the standard classroom curriculum we have created to go hand in hand with our virtual outreach materials. This pamphlet and all other materials will then be accessible on our website; Nevadafloods.org. Lastly the Nevada Silver Jackets have prepared a draft Floodplain Management Plan for South Fork dam in Elko County with the goal of this being an example for applicants applying for funding from FEMA’s the Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dams (HHPD) grant program. This draft is entering the public comment phase.

The Nevada Floodplain Management Program has a goal of setting our communities up on a 5-year cycle for Community Assistance Contacts/Community Assistance Visits. This requires Nevada’s State Coordinator to complete a combination of 12 Community Assistance Contacts/Community Assistance Visits. The first phase will be with the CRS communities that have been selected for audit this year will be asked to additionally complete a Community Assistance Contact (CAC) with our office.

MEET THE BOARD - Wendy Wang

FMA Welcomes our newest Director to the board.

Wendy Wang prides herself in being a powerhouse of excellence, efficiency, and collaboration. She is beyond excited to serve the floodplain management community as a Director At-Large on the FMA Board of Directors. She brings a fresh perspective, innovative ideas, and a commitment to empower emerging professionals to confidently embrace leadership roles and practice self-advocacy.

Wendy graduated from UC Davis in 2012 with a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and began her career as a Student Assistant in Department of Water Resources. She is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer in California and has a decade of experience in Floodplain Management. She is currently a Senior Engineer with the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, specializing in flood planning and programs. Additionally, she has a background in emergency preparedness and response, flood risk communications, project management, and communications and engagement.

Wendy has been extremely involved with many aspects of the FMA organization, including the Emerging Professionals (EP) Committee, Awards Committee, Luncheon Committee, Conference Planning Committee, and Social Media Committee. Wendy was a founding member of the EP Committee and engineered the genius organizational structure of the committee to allow for over a 600% growth in actively engaged committee members within the first year. Over her three years as the Awards Committee Chair, Wendy exponentially increased the number of committee members and level of engagement through a process and organizational re-vamp. Wendy’s creativity and adaptability allowed for both of those committees to continue growing and be successful throughout COVID. From the onset of COVID, she led the EP Committee through a successful transition from in-person to virtual webinars, socials, and committee meetings, allowing for members to stay engaged through a very difficult time. She was also instrumental in the success of the Awards Committee during the virtual FMA conferences because she led the team through a completely new and innovative process of developing videos for the award winners and increasing member engagement through highlighting awards on social media.

She has an unwavering dedication to effective communication and leadership, an unparalleled ability to deliver a high level of performance, and an incredible aptitude for creative problem-solving. She is a remarkable asset to FMA because of her incredible ability to lead, manage, and inspire people; talent and keen mind for process improvement, organization, and member engagement; and impressive level of communication and interpersonal skills. Wendy has already contributed an astonishing amount of value to FMA and is honored to continue serving the FMA community on the Board of Directors.

CALL FOR ARTICLES!

The FMA Newsletter welcomes the input of its members and now our extended family of readership to contribute to the conversation! Keep the great articles coming! We need to hear from all of you. There’s always room for more to join the ranks of published authors. Showcase your programs, projects, tools, policies, regulations or ideas to hundreds of floodplain management professionals throughout the U.S.! Articles must be submitted in Word format to Mary.Seits@Floodplain.org and may contain 2-3 small pictures. Preferred length is less than 850 words.

For more details call (760) 936-3676.

THERE IS A RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS. AND THERE IS A NEW WAY TO DO THINGS. AND SOMETIMES THEY’RE EXACTLY THE SAME THING.

ART AND EDUCATION MEET IN CARSON CITY

Carson City and the Carson Water Subconservancy District teamed up to create a high water mark mural along Eagle Creek. The challenge was how to best illustrate flood risk along a wide floodplain while promoting the beneficial functions of floodplains. An existing hiking and biking path along the creek offered access, but a simple sign at that location couldn’t convey the impact of past flood levels. A concrete wall, on the opposite side of the trail, had potential. Retired Carson City civil engineer and life-long artist Debra Fong was asked to breathe life into the concept. She transformed the wall into a 10-foot by 30-foot canvas depicting a colorful representation of wildlife and vegetation native to the Eagle Creek watershed. The right side of the mural has two black and white reminders of the base (1% annual chance) flood elevation and 2017 flood elevation, with room to update with future flood elevations.

“This high water mark reminds residents that Nevada floods, and stresses the planning and execution of many projects throughout the city to reduce flood impacts. Not only do open floodplains protect our communities when disasters occur, by providing flood storage and reducing strain on culverts and ditches, they also add to the quality of our lives in countless ways,” said Carson City Floodplain Manager Robb Fellows.

FEMA Region 9 National Preparedness Branch Chief Christine Borgognoni said, “This is the intersection of public safety and art. It reflects the collaboration between the Carson Water Subconservancy District, Carson City, the Nevada Division of Water Resources, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Weather Service and FEMA to educate and promote flood awareness, disaster preparedness, and community resilience.”

On August 11, Carson City unveiled the mural and sign as part of a Disaster Preparedness Festival. It featured interactive displays staffed by local, state and federal agencies. Attendees were invited to walk along a multiuse path for a dedication ceremony. Another creative high water mark monument is under development for the Carson River in 2023.

On the trail side of Eagle Creek, this interpretive sign describes (with corresponding QR codes) river conservation, floodplain wildlife, flooding history, and the highwater mark sign.

2022 ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS IN BRIEF

The 2022 Annual Conference, Fostering Resilience through Integration, Innovation, and Inclusion, was a tremendous success! Over 500 attendees filled the sessions, field trips and the premier Exhibit Hall. Held in Sacramento, CA we covered everything from philanthropic endeavors to field trips to plenaries, panels, technical sessions and more. It was a delight to be back in person after two years of virtual!

Tuesday got off to a great start (record high attendance!) with several exciting workshops, something for everyone including, our first Committees Luncheon/Meet and Greet, How to Build a Funding Pipeline, Floodplain Manager’s Review Course with Exam, and Open Houses with Federal and State Agencies to name just a few. Tuesday evening, FMA hosted our fourth annual Community Service Event. Over 400 hundred backpacks were filled with school supply items needed by the City of Refuge, Sacramento and Roberts Family Development Center for education projects with school age children. The exhibit hall opening reception highlighted the wide array of vendors and consulting firms, agencies’ expertise, networking, and more. Our sponsors for each themed evening, Kleinfelder and GEI, provided an added party element to both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We could not hold this Annual Conference without the support of our many sponsors and exhibitors.

Our plenary Wednesday morning kicked off the opening of the conference with messages from our co-chairs, Pete Ghelfi (SAFCA), (California DWR), Jenny Marr (CA DWR), Michael Nakagaki (FEMA) and Alicia Kirchner (USACE), as well as our informative keynote speaker Col. Antoinette Gant - South Pacific Division (USACE) and welcome speaker, Congresswoman Doris Matsui, representing California’s Sixth District. The awards luncheon was a success with the keynote address delivered by Monica Woods, Chief Meterologis, ABC10, Sacramento. Congratulations to our many award winners! See below for a list of this year’s award winners.

We held over 20 panels and 30 technical sessions. Additionally, the Thursday evening event was a casino night which provided a fun twist to our evening of social time and networking. Friday concluded our conference with a Sacramento Weir tour and a Silver Jackets meeting. If you happened to miss this year’s conference, be sure you don’t miss out in 2023 when we are in Los Angeles, CA, September 5-8. Hope to see you all there!

FMA 2022 AWARD WINNERS

Outstanding Public Official of the Year

Doris Matsui

Congresswoman, CA 6th District

Emerging Professional of the Year

Madeline Baker

Larsen Wurzel & Associates

Karl Mohr Distinguished Service Award for National Activities Eric Simmons FEMA

Communications and Outreach Award

Memories, Lessons from California’s Historic Floods of ‘97 KCRA3

Integrated Flood Management Award

San Diego Collaborative Technical Assistance (CTA)

Award for Excellence

Steve Sullivan

Awaiting affiliation for Steve

Andy Lee Award for Extraordinary Public Service for State Activities

Nikki Blomquist CA DWR

Mentorship Award

David Williams DTW & Associates

Floodplain Manager of the Year Hassan Kasraie Kasraie Consulting

Hogg-Owen Award for Meritorious Achievement in FMA Betty Andrews Retired

Coastal Zone Management & Stewardship Award State of Hawaii

Goddard Award for Outstanding Article in Floodplain Management

Lisa Beutler Stantec

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE CALIFORNIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

1. New Program Announcement:

Post-fire runoff and debris bulking can be multiple times larger than pre-fire conditions and has resulted in damaging flood and debris flow events that have caused significant impacts to infrastructure and loss of life.  To better address post-fire hazards, the California Geological Survey has implemented a new Burned Watershed Geohazards Program (BWGP).  The new BWGP will be managed by Supervising Engineering Geologist, Don Lindsay (GE, CEG), and will include seven additional scientists composed of Environmental Scientists, Engineers, Engineering Geologists, and a GIS specialist.  Once the positions are filled and the program is at full capacity, the program will focus on providing both pre- and post-fire assessments to characterize the magnitude and spatial extent of fire-induced hazards related to flooding and debris flows, perform burned area monitoring to identify opportunities to refine or improve post-fire assessment processes, and conduct public outreach and education to elevate public awareness of post-fire hazards.

2. Since the last board meeting, CGS staff have been involved in the additional WERT responses this year, including:

Fire Name County: Communities Affected CGS Staff Assigned McKinney Siskiyou: Humbug Creek, Klamath River 5

Oak Mariposa: Plumbar Creek, Jones and Snow Creek 5

Fairview Riverside: Avery and Bautista Canyon, Red Mountain area, Gibbel and Sage Rd, and Cactus, Reed, and San Jacinto Valley 5 Mosquito Placer, El Dorado: Foresthill, Mosquito Ridge Rd 4 Mountain Siskiyou: Willow Creek, Lime Gulch 4

3. Through the month of September, CGS staff have conducted post-storm field reconnaissance for the following events:

• Tamarack: Two events on 08/02 and 09/18

• Apple and El Dorado: Three events on 07/30-31, 08/13, and 09/12

• Dixie: One event on 06/12

• Independence area event on 07/31 (not fire related)

Additional monitoring efforts include the McKinney and Mosquito fires.

ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS FOUNDATION 2023 FUTURE LEADERS SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION PERIOD OPEN –

PASS IT ON!

Applications are now being accepted for the Fall 2023 to Spring 2025 Future Leaders Scholarship (FLS). Please help the Foundation pass the word along to colleges, universities, research centers and of course, students who may be eligible. Here are some specific details for you to share:

• The ASFPM Foundation’s Future Leaders Scholarship is up to $20,000 per year for two years available to a student entering their junior year of undergraduate studies in fall of 2023.

• The FLS will pay undergraduate tuition and living expenses.

• Visit the Future Leaders Scholarship page for details. An online application is required. A PDF of the application is available here

• The deadline for applications is February 1, 2023.

• The FLS is for any degree program that supports the Foundation’s vision of reducing the risk and impacts of floods on people and communities. The FLS is not just for engineers.

Undergraduates Welcome To Apply!

We encourage you to share the word with your college and university alma maters, family, friends, and colleagues about this important opportunity.

YUBA-FEATHER FORECAST INFORMED RESERVOIR OPERATIONS (FIRO) WORK CONTINUES

Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations, known as FIRO, is a reservoir operations strategy that better informs decisions to retain or release water by integrating additional flexibility in operation policies and rules with enhanced monitoring and improved weather and water forecasts (American Meteorological Society; 2020). Efforts to integrate hydrologic forecasts into reservoir operations for the Yuba and Feather watersheds continue through a formal FIRO project. The Yuba-Feather FIRO Steering Committee is co-led by John Leahigh, Water Operations Executive Manager, CA State Water Project and John James, Director of Resource Planning, Yuba Water Agency. The Steering Committee also has members from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the Center for Western Water and Weather Extremes (CW3E) and NOAA, including Alan Haynes, the Hydrologist in Charge at the California Nevada River Forecast Center.

At a recent technical workshop in Sacramento, the group discussed findings from a Preliminary Viability Study (PVA), and brainstormed how to integrate climate change and improving forecast skill with time into the Final Viability Assessment (FVA), which is expected to be complete by the end of 2023. The FVA is being constructed in a way to support developing new Water Control Manuals (WCMs) for both Lake Oroville in the Feather watershed and New Bullards Bar in the Yuba watershed. The USACE is funded to develop these new WCMs, which will also factor in a second spillway at New Bullards Bar, known as the Atmospheric River Control Spillway. This spillway is expected to significantly reduce flood risk and enhance public safety for 100,000 residents in Yuba and Sutter counties by giving operators more flexibility in drawing down the reservoir ahead of large storms. The spillway construction is scheduled to start in 2024/2025 and cost $240 million with the implementation of FIRO also beginning in 2024/2025.

The Yuba and Feather River watersheds lie approximately 60 mi. north of Sacramento, CA.

Yuba-Feather FIRO group meets for a one-day technical workshop in the fall of 2022.

Leading with Science®

Tetra Tech is pleased to be ranked #1 in Water by Engineering News-Record for 16 years in a row.

We are proud to be home to leading technical experts in every sector and to use that expertise throughout the project life cycle. Our commitment to safety is ingrained in our culture and at the forefront of every project.

tetratech.com

LEADERS AT EVERY LEVEL

The Emerging Professionals Committee regularly hosts the Leadership Webinar Series. Past webinar topics have included Navigating Biases in Decision Making, What Makes a Great Leader, Local Floodplain Manager to California’s CRS Coordinator, and Stop Wasting My Time! How to save years of your professional life through more efficient meetings. The September 2022 webinar focused on Mentorship and the Importance of Building Relationships. During the webinar, the panelists, Hunter Merritt and Aaron Schlein, both from the US Army Corps of Engineers, were asked to discuss at what point a person is no longer an Emerging Professional and is instead a leader. Aaron Schlein answered this question by describing the “curse of knowledge.” According to The Decision Lab, "the ‘curse of knowledge,’ or ‘the curse of expertise,’ is a cognitive bias where we incorrectly assume that everyone knows as much as we do on a given topic.”1 As engineers, this could result in experienced leaders forgetting what they needed to learn in order to get to their current level of understanding.

Another way of looking at the “curse of knowledge”, and the way Aaron Schlein described in the webinar, is people tend to view themselves as average and forget the tasks and knowledge they learned as they progressed to their current position. Essentially, through the routinization of new tasks, people forget the original effort required to learn them. In this process also we forget this knowledge is something we know and could teach to others.

1 Curse of Knowledge, 2022; The Decision Lab.

Mr. Schlein’s advice is to look deeper into what you tend to do slightly better than other people, or what you may know that you can share with others, and share it! With this thought process, there is no definitive line between an Emerging Professional and a leader, rather a person with only a month of experience could be a leader to someone on their first day.

For leadership to be possible at all levels, it is important for employers to foster a culture of knowledge sharing at every level. That new entry level engineer that just joined the firm? Maybe they took a coding class in college and can use C# to make informative maps using the RASter Calculator in RASMapper. Or maybe a more junior employee knows computer shortcuts, like pressing “R” to reorient north in Google Earth or one of the many Excel keyboard shortcuts that could enhance the workflow of a more senior professional. By empowering people of with all levels of experience to share what they know, employers can have leaders at every level.

For more information on upcoming and past webinars, visit the FMA Emerging Professionals website at https://sites.google.com/view/fmaepcommittee/about-us/webinars.

THE HIGH WATER MARK