As Tulsa's stormwater and floodplain management program evolved over many years, we learned from others, from our mistakes, and from our successes. Watersheds and drainage systems are interconnected units.
Effective management demands drainage basins to be planned as integral units.
The National Flood Insurance Program was instrumental in leading our community into floodplain management. But NFIP regulations do not take into account future watershed urbanization and the resulting increase in flood depths. Tulsa's program is based on total basin urbanization. In an urban area such as Tulsa, stormwater and flood programs should include multiple objectives, including recreation and environmental quality, and multiple techniques, including structural and nonstructural projects. Mitigation and flood-loss reduction should become the central focus of flood recovery efforts.