Geologic, Hydrologic, and Urban Hazards for Design in Desert Environments - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 113

and mitigation, which is one of the cornerstones of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency's hazard reduction program. 1
Hazards inherent in the built environment have long been identified with various regu-
lations and ordinances designed to mitigate their impacts. A plethora of environmental
regulations apply to the issue of waste management, cleanup, and mitigation, particularly
where a contaminated area is to be rehabilitated and changed into a different land use.
Off-site pollution, whether considered to be point source or nonpoint source, is one of the
most significant hazards designers need to contend with as dust generation, in particular,
can affect quality of life in urban settings. Wildland fire is gaining in importance as a haz-
ard, particularly in an era when climates are predicted to change and increase fire danger.
Designers should consider for “all hazards” vulnerability assessments to make sure
the most vulnerable land uses and populations avoid the highest hazard locations. Urban
settlements in the Southwest will require places to store wastes and industries that will
generate hazards from their industrial operations. Therefore, it will require of the political,
industry, and community leaders a firm commitment to effectively handle, store, or trans-
port toxic materials generated by development and industrial operations without adverse
harm to people who live in this region.
References
1. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Multi hazard identification and risk assess-
ment: A cornerstone of the national mitigation strategy (Washington, DC: Federal Emergency
Management Agency, 1997).
2. Burby, R.J., ed., Cooperating with Nature: Confronting Natural Hazards with Land-Use Planning for
Sustainable Communities (Washington, DC: Joseph Henry/National Academy Press, 1998).
3. Pielke, R.A. Jr. and M.W. Downton, Precipitation and damaging floods: Trends in the United
States, 1932-97, Journal of Climate 13: 3625-3637, 2000.
4. Webb, R.H. and J.L. Betancourt, Climatic variability and flood frequency of the Santa Cruz River,
Pima County, Arizona (Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 2379, 1992).
5. Cayan, D.R. and R.H. Webb, El Niño/southern oscillation and streamflow in the western
United States, in H.F. Diaz and V. Markgraf, eds., El Niño, Historical and Paleoclimatic Aspects of
the Southern Oscillation (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 29-68.
6. FEMA, National flood insurance program: Summary of coverage (Washington, DC: Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Report F-679, 2007).
7. FEMA, Guide to flood maps (Washington, DC: Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Report FEMA 258, 2006).
8. Saarinen, T.F., V.R. Baker, R. Durrenberger, and T. Maddock, Jr., The Tucson, Arizona, Flood of
October 1983 (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1984).
9. Hjalmarson, H.W. and S.P. Kemna, Flood hazards of distributary-flow areas in Southwestern
Arizona (Tucson, AZ: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations, Report
91-4171, 1991).
10. Osterkamp, W.R., Annotated definitions of selected geomorphic terms and related terms of
hydrology, sedimentology, soil science and ecology (Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey Open-
File Report 2008-1217, 2008).
11. National Research Council, Alluvial Fan Flooding (Washington, DC: National Academy Press,
1996).
12. FEMA, Alluvial fans, hazards and management (Washington, DC: Federal Emergency
Management Agency, Report FEMA 165, 1989).