44.117:  Flood Plan - Athens Campus

Status:	Approved on October 22, 2004	Signatures and dates on archival copy
Effective:	when approved
Initiated by:	Sherwood Wilson Associate Vice President for Administration for Facilities and Auxiliary Services
Reviewed by:	Herman ("Butch") Hill, Chair Policy and Procedure Review Committee
Endorsed by:	Larry Corrigan Interim Vice President for Finance and Administration
Approved by:	Kathy Krendl Interim Provost

Purpose

Flooding conditions were last experienced in 1968. The river was relocated around the campus in 1970 and the probability of flooding was significantly reduced as a result. Flooding, however, is still possible, and it is necessary, therefore, to define a procedure for determining the possibility of flooding, for notifying departments that might be affected directly by flood conditions, and for implementing actions that are required to minimize potential damages to property and inconveniences to students, faculty and staff.

Policy

Departments located in the buildings and areas listed in sub-section I of Procedures, below, should have plans in place for dealing with high water by:

• moving items to be protected from ground floor levels to upper floors;

• moving equipment and vehicles from garages, parking lots, and the grounds, to higher ground; and

• taking whatever steps are necessary to protect items that cannot be relocated.

It will be the responsibility of each department to physically relocate their own equipment, supplies, etc., as Facilities Management personnel will have the primary responsibility of performing numerous functions that are essential in lessening the impact of flooding conditions on buildings, building mechanical systems, and utilities.

Procedures

I.  Areas and Buildings Affected

The low lying areas of the campus are in the flood plain and could be affected if the river goes over the banks. The flood plain includes the following areas and buildings:

A.  West Green Anderson Aquatic Center Bird Arena Boyd Convocation Grosvenor Grover Irvine Hall James Life Science Center* Parks Porter Ryors Sargent Stocker Truedley Visitor's Center Walter* Wilson	B.  East Green Biddle Bryan Bush Clippinger Edgehill Maintenance Building Gamertsfelder Jefferson Johnson* Lincoln Lower Campus Grounds McCracken Morton Perkins Putnam Read* Shively Tiffin Ullom Voigt Washington	C.  South Green Armbruster Atkinson Brough Brown Cady Crawford Dougan Ewing Fenzel Foster Hoover Mackinnon Martzolff Mill St. Apts.* Nelson O'Blennes Pickering Smith Surface Science True Weld Wolfe St. Apts. Wray Zoology
D.  Athletic Mall Carin Strength Center Chessa Field (soccer) Driving Range Football Practice Peden Stadium Ping Center* Pro Shop Pruitt Field Softball Tennis Courts Wren Stadium	E.  North Green Glidden Music Building* Hwa-Wei Lee Library Annex Music Addition Sculpture Studio Seigfred Hall	F.  Service Center Biochemistry* Central Food Service* Corrosion Center* Facilities Management* Facilities Renovations* Heating Plant Substation* Human Resources Training Center* Innovation Center* Laushe Heating Plant* Ohio University Credit Union* Old Custodial Stores* University Garage*

* The buildings marked with an asterisk ("*") are either on the edge of the flood plain or they are raised so they are out of the flood plain, so in the event of flooding, they are likely to be surrounded by water.

II.  Monitoring the River

The Facilities Management Division will have primary responsibility for evaluating river elevation conditions and for triggering various levels of readiness notifications to departments on campus that would be affected by flooding conditions. There are a variety of factors that determine the possibilities and extent of flooding, including:

1. Amount of rain in a given period of time up-stream from Athens.

2. The quantity and rate of increase of water levels in a given time period.

3. Temperature and time of year.

4. Percentage of watershed covered.

5. Soil condition, type of cover, and slope, which determine the amount of runoff in a given rain.

6. Presence of ice in the river.

The status of river conditions will be available from Facilities Management.

III.  Notification Categories

Notification to departments located in affected areas may be in either of two categories:

A.  Flood Watch

Conditions are such that departments will be notified that flooding is possible and that they should review plans for relocating essential equipment and have personnel and equipment ready to implement relocation plans on short notice.

B.  Flood Warning

Available information indicates that the river will go over the levee and will affect the lower areas of the campus. Departments will be advised to implement their flood plans.

IV.  Notification

Notification to departments located in affected areas will be made as follows:

The Director of Grounds is responsible for monitoring river conditions and for implementing, in conjunction with the Director of Facilities Mangement, "Flood Watch" and "Flood Warning" notifications. A listing of all buildings and departments that should receive "Flood Watch" and "Flood Warning" notifications shall be maintained by the Director of Grounds. The Flood Plan and listing of buildings and departments shall be updated each Fall to recognize the changes that have been made in facility usage and assignments.

Periodically, the Director of Grounds will schedule a meeting to discuss flood planning procedures with representatives of departments that are located in areas that are subject to flooding.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting the Director of Grounds.

Reviewers

Proposed revisions of this policy should be reviewed by:

1. Policy and Procedure Review Committee

2. Unit heads responsible for operations located in buildings and areas listed in Procedures, sub-section I, above.

Forms

There are no forms that are specific to this policy.

Copyright © 2004 Ohio University. All Rights Reserved.

Dick Piccard revised this file (http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/44-117.html) on October 27, 2004.

Please E-mail any comments or suggestions to "polproc@www.ohiou.edu".