Floodplain Management Obstacles
The questionnaire respondents were asked which of the following were common obstacles faced in the day-to-day implementation of their local floodplain management program, and 97.3% of the participants responded to at least one of the questions related to obstacles. It should be noted that of those responding, 17.9% of the participants chose "Not at all" for all obstacle questions. The following responses summarize the obstacles for each population range.
Lack of Funding
Overall, two obstacles had the greatest variability in responses; funding was one of them. The overall responses were among the most evenly distributed responses. The responses for "A little," "Somewhat," "Quite a bit," and "A great deal" individually ranged from 10% to 25%. Cumulatively these responses indicated that 63% to 67% of the communities identified some degree of funding need.
Lack of Staff
As mentioned, two obstacles had the greatest variability in responses. One was funding; the other was staffing. The overall responses were among the most evenly distributed across the response choices. The 38% of smaller communities indicated that staffing was not an issue compared to the medium and larger communities who were at 24% and 22% respectively. The individual responses for "A little," "Somewhat," "Quite a bit," and "A great deal" ranged from 8% to 30%. Cumulatively these responses indicated that 62% to 78% of the communities identified some degree of staffing need.
Lack of Outreach Resources
Lack of Outreach Resources did not appear to be an obstacle for most of the responding communities. When looking at the various population distributions, the distributions are generally uniform.
Lack of Maps
The lack of maps did not appear to be a significant issue for any community.
Lack of Political Support
Political support responses were generally consistent across all population ranges, with less than 50% in all population ranges indicating any concern.
Lack of Legal Support for Enforcing Regulations
Lack of legal support for enforcing regulations responses was generally consistent across all population ranges, with less than 50% in all population ranges indicating any concern.
Lack Ability to Issue Permits
“Lacking the ability to issue permits” was the obstacle least commonly identified by the respondents.