Flood Risk Management

Reducing risk and preventing flood-related damages can be accomplished by several means — through structural measures, such as reservoirs, levees, channels and floodwalls that modify the characteristics of floods; or with non-structural measures, such as flood plain evacuation, floodproofing and floodway acquisitions that alter the way people use these areas and reduce the susceptibility of human activities to flood risk.

Various aspects of the Mississippi Valley Division’s flood risk management program include: building smaller, cost-shared projects for local communities; providing flood hazard information, technical assistance/planning and guidance to other federal agencies, states, local governments and private individuals; using our technical expertise in water and related land resource management to help states tackle water resource needs; improving planning of flood protection projects and resource management; and exploring innovative ways to incorporate environmental protection and restoration features into structural and non-structural flood protection works. 

Structural measures include reservoirs, levees, channels and floodwalls that modify the characteristics of floods. Non-structural measures includes flood plain evacuation, floodproofing  and floodway acquisitions that alter the way people use these areas and reduce the susceptibility of human activities to flood risk.