Resiliency and Preparedness

Climate change and severe weather will affect our local economy, natural environment and community well-being. The City of Flagstaff is taking steps to ensure the health and safety of the Flagstaff community. This includes identifying risks to the municipal organization and the larger community, and taking action to reduce those risks.

City of Flagstaff Resiliency & Preparedness Study

The City's Resiliency and Preparedness Study focuses on understanding how the impacts of weather directly affect governmental operations and what can be done to be prepared.

Local governments are on the front lines of managing the impacts associated with natural hazards, ranging from increased drought (straining water and forest resources) to increased flooding (straining stormwater management infrastructure) to more extreme heat and weather events (putting lives and property at risk). By prioritizing protection and preparedness, the City can improve local service delivery and reduce risk to natural hazards. Focusing on resiliency and preparedness can help prepare the City of Flagstaff for climate and weather related impacts while protecting the City's critical resources and positioning the City for continued prosperity.

The City completed a study that assesses the level of vulnerability, the degree of risk and the potential impacts of 115 of the City's critical operations that are already impacted by weather. Completed by a team of City staff and regional partners, the Study recommends an overarching policy aimed to increase protection and resilience within government operations to hazards including fire, severe winter storms, drought, floods, etc.

City of Flagstaff Resiliency & Preparedness Workshops

The Sustainability Section has been coordinating resiliency and preparedness workshops for City of Flagstaff departments, divisions, and sections since the passage of the resiliency and preparedness Resolution in 2012. These workshops begin with the consideration of several catastrophic climate events. Staff members are then asked to consider the potential effects the event would have on their operations during and after the crisis. Participants then come up with short and long term action items to mitigate these negative outcomes.

What's Next

The forthcoming Climate Action and Adaptation Plan will address resiliency and community preparedness. Learn more and get involved.