The Foothill Municipal Water District and member agencies are developing a local Hazard Mitigation Plan to submit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The plan addresses threats from potential natural hazards and identifies possible strategies to reduce impacts. The purpose of hazard mitigation planning is to reduce loss of life and property damage by minimizing the impact of natural disasters. Jurisdictions must have either their own Hazard Mitigation Plan on file with FEMA or be a participating entity in a FEMA-approved Hazard Mitigation Plan to be eligible for many federal funding opportunities.
Foothill Municipal Water District was awarded funding through the Hazard Mitigation Program Grant in June 2024 to develop a Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan including member agencies. Planning for a Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan was kicked off in December 2024 before the Eaton Wildfire disaster impacted the area. This planning effort is being supported by a contract consultant, Black & Veatch. The plan will identify hazards, assess risk from those hazards, and come up with hazard mitigation strategies to reduce or eliminate future risk.
WHAT IS HAZARD MITIGATION?
Hazard mitigation is any sustainable action that reduces or eliminates long-term risk to people, property, and services from future disasters. The best way to do this is to create a thorough plan well in advance, before any disasters happen.
Phases of Emergency Management
Emergency management focuses on reducing or avoiding potential losses from hazards, assuring prompt and appropriate assistance from damages, and achieving rapid and effective recovery measures.
This process is divided into four phases:
- Preparedness – strategies and actions of getting people and resources prepared and ready to respond to an emergency or disaster
- Response – actions taken to protect life, property and the environment
- Recovery – the process of returning the affected area and people to pre-disaster status
- Mitigation – the methodology of identifying what hazards pose a risk to the area and determining ways to eliminate or minimizing those hazards
The mitigation phase is all about finding ways to prevent disasters or lessen their impact. It involves thinking of long-term solutions to help reduce the effects of disasters before they happen.
WHAT IS A HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN?
A Hazard Mitigation Plan is a comprehensive strategy that assesses the risks and vulnerabilities associated with various hazards, such as wildfires, droughts, and earthquakes. It identifies actions and measures to reduce the impacts of these hazards, protect lives, buildings, infrastructure, and property, and strengthen abilities to recover from these types of events.
Hazard Mitigation Planning Process
The Planning Partners will be using a phased process to prepare the Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, which follows FEMA and Cal OES requirements, along with the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit and the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric) Climate Resilience: Steps to Resilience practitioners’ methodologies.
How Does the Plan Benefit Planning Area?
The Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will assist Planning Partners with the following:
- An increased understanding of the hazards faced locally
- Development of more sustainable and resilient infrastructure and ability to provide services
- Eligibility for FEMA pre- and post-disaster mitigation funding for activities and planning before disasters strike
- Reducing long-term impacts and damages to human health and structures, as well as reduced repair costs
FOOTHILL MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT MULTI-JURISDICTIONAL LOCAL HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN
The Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan will identify hazards that pose a risk to our services and assets and will identify actions the Planning Partners can take to reduce the impacts from the hazards. This plan will guide local governments to implement the mitigation strategies identified in the plan. By having a plan in place, the Planning Partners are eligible for FEMA HMA funding.
The 2026 Multi-Jurisdictional Local Hazard Mitigation Plan is being led by the Foothill Municipal Water District. The Planning Partnership includes the following:
PARTICIPATION
The public is welcome and encouraged to participate during the planning process! Upcoming meeting information and materials will be shared on this page and all meetings are open to the public.
If you live or work in the service area of the member agencies, please take a moment to fill out a short survey. This survey aims to collect your thoughts on any hazards and risks we face locally. Results from the survey will help us better coordinate future mitigation activities to create more resilient communities!
If you have any questions or want to share your ideas, please submit a contact form with this LINK.
MEETINGS
The Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (PC) meets monthly as needed to work on the MJHMP for the Planning Partners. PC meetings are open to the public and held virtually. Check back for meeting information and to review past meeting agendas and summaries.
DRAFT PLAN
Future opportunities to comment on the draft plan will be posted here.
