On Monday, the state House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee passed on a 10-3 vote a measure that supporters say could “revolutionize” how Colorado deals with floods and wildfire. It is a promising idea and deserves the voters’ attention.
House Bill 1129 does not have a catchy, made-up-acronym kind of title but rather simply: “Concerning disaster prediction and decision support systems by the department of public safety, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.”
Sponsored by state Rep. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, D-Arvada, and state Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, it would create a five-year program to enable the state to bring to bear state-of-the-art technology – powerful computers in particular – to predict the weather and with that the direction and intensity of floods and wildfires. To do this, the bill would dedicate $10 million.
The basic idea, which researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder have been working on for 20 years, is to combine the advances in several areas of technology that have been made over the years into one coordinated tool to help firefighters and rescue personnel focus their efforts to the greatest effect.
And in no aspect of rescue work is there a more important factor than time. Warning times for floods, wildfires and other disasters often are measured in minutes, even seconds. Imagine what could be done – the lives and property saved – if 12 hours were a more typical warning time. And imagine further that before that 12 hours were up the right people with the right resources were positioned in precisely the right place. That is the idea behind HB 1129.
And, while nothing is ever perfect, if it could achieve even a fraction of its supporters’ aspirations, it would indeed be revolutionary. They point out that much of the work now done in attempting to predict fires and floods is done with observation stations, historical data and equipment from the 1970s and ’80s.
Critics naturally attack the idea for wanting to spend too much money. After all, $2 million dollars per year sounds like a lot. But if that antiquated system truly can be updated to one that produces 12-hour warning times as well as better and more efficient application of resources, that $2 million will be seen as nothing.
The Denver Post compiled a list of Colorado wildfires in 2012. Here are just a few: The High Park fire killed one and cost $39.2 million. The Waldo Canyon fire killed two and cost $122 million. The Lower North Fork fire killed three and cost $11 million. There were other fires that year and more and worse since, not to mention flooding. Saving just a fraction of the cost of those fires and floods could support the cost of HB 1129 for decades. And that’s not to count the human suffering.
The bill has other aspects as well. It would allow the state to accept donations and grants. And it would foster cooperative efforts with other agencies and the private sector.
But above all, HB 1129 could bring together the latest understandings of water and weather and couple them with 21st century technology. That is well worth pursuing.
