EWRI November'26 Webinar

https://forms.gle/M6uq2BerNksEPzFF7

Presentation Title: Analyses of extreme rainfall and flood frequencies in the United States: implications for national disaster preparedness strategies

Our current understanding of extreme rainfall and flood events in the U.S. is severely flawed. Recent comprehensive analyses challenging updates of NOAA Atlas 14 (and soon to be released Atlas 15) and regional flood-frequency methods, reveal a dramatic underestimation. We are consistently observing rainfall and flood occurrences whose true statistical recurrence intervals extend into the tens to hundreds of millions of years, far surpassing the '1,000-year' designations.

Methodologies are systematically neglecting vital extreme rainfall and flood data from ungauged areas since the early 1900s. This omission severely underestimates risks, compromising our ability to prepare effectively and safeguard infrastructure. The resilience and safety of our communities demand this urgent action.  This necessitates an urgent reassessment of our current methodologies and the immediate incorporation of the wealth of data contained within the National extreme rainfall and flood data at ungauged sites. The future safety and resilience of our communities depend on it.

Speaker:

Dr. Robert Jarrett is a research hydrologist and consulting engineer with Flood and Paleoflood Science, LLC. in Lakewood, Colorado. Dr. Jarrett has 55 years of experience in flood hydrometeorology. His work experience includes Corps of Engineers (3 years), USGS (38 years) and Flood & Paleoflood Science LLC from 2012 to present. During his time with Flood  & Paleoflood Science LLC, Dr. Jarret has done a number of projects including flood documentation of September 2013 Colorado Front Range Flood, regional paleoflood studies of the upper Colorado, Arkansas,  South Platte and Rio Grande Rivers. For the past eight years, an assessment of NOAA Atlas 14 and 15 (precipitation frequency methods) has been done for extreme rainstorms in the United States. Dr. Jarrett holds a BS in Hydrology from the University of New Hampshire, and MS and Ph.D. in civil engineering from Colorado State University.

Please contact Bob Holmes (bholmes@wrightwater.com) with any questions, if you are interested in presenting, or have an idea for a topic.