Rio Grande Institute

TRIM SUMMARY and SCOPE

 

TRANSBOUNDARY RISK IDENTIFICATION AND MITIGATION PROJECT -  PREVENTING DISASTERS THROUGH COOPERATION ON IN TWIN CITIES ON US-MEXICO BORDER 

 

This pilot  project begins a program to improve  the capacity of “paired”  cities, counties and “Municipios” along the US-Mexico border  to identify and mitigate certain risks to human life, property and economic activity from those natural disasters and catastrophic events whose impacts can extend into communities on both sides of the international border.  The project involves, in part, implementation of a regional mitigation action included in the fourteen county Cover the Border Hazard Mitigation Plan  that has been submitted to Region VI of FEMA through the Governor’s Division of Emergency Management (see www.covertheborder.net  for a copy of the plan and information on its sponsors).

 

The Transboundary Risk Identification and Mitigation (TRIM) Program is intended as a long term initiative to provide expert disaster planning, technical assistance and training  teams to participating jurisdictions through a regional  “TRIM Consortium” organized for the express purpose of  helping local governments create  transboundary disaster mitigation action plans and acquire (or improve) the capacity to sustain and update those plans as needed.

 

Such an extraordinary planning and training initiative will help US and Mexico improve their capacity to anticipate  events, reduce the risks they pose as well as respond to emergencies. It represents a new level of engagement and cooperation between US and Mexican local governments who believe their close proximity requires extraordinary cross-border communication and cooperation to anticipate, mitigate, respond to and recover from natural disasters and catastrophes. 

 

The first TRIM Project is being organized for two sister jurisdictions on the Rio Grande by a binational planning support team composed on Texas A & M International University, the Rio Grande Institute, the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and  Mundo Sustentable, AC

 

June 2008

 

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CONTEXT: US- MEXICO  COOPERATION ON TRANSBOUNDARY RISK IDENTIFICATION AND MITIGATION (TRIM)

 

Border-wide Vision:  This first TRIM project will develop the templates and protocols needed for a process of local-level cooperation and capacity building that will progress incrementally along the entire length of the US-Mexico border

 

TRIM Agreements: Each set of sister communities will be joined by a cooperative agreement and approve a scope of work for a TRIM planning team to develop a locally focused TRIM project that is in harmony with US-Mexico treaty objectives and on-going federal and state binational cooperation programs and the on-going work of  local Emergency Management Coordinators, Consular Sister City Initiatives, the International Boundary and  Water Commission,  Homeland Security, Border 2012, Border Governors Work Groups etc.

 

TRIM Projects: Each project will focus on mitigation of risks and capacity building for sister jurisdictions that concur in having a continuing need to work together to deal with catastrophic storms and other deadly events.. Each will begin with a disaster simulation event at an international bridge sponsored by the sister jurisdictions and community leaders. That will launch a hazard mitigation planning process adapted in part from the Cover the Border initiative underway by TAMIU and the Rio Grande Institute (RGI) for fourteen US border counties.(www.covertheborder.net)

 

The focus of TRIM planning will be on identifying and mitigating hazards that are likely to have a direct adverse impact on lives, property and the natural environment across the border in either direction. The end-product will be a set of well defined, mutually agreed upon, high priority mitigation actions that can reduce the risk that the border community neighbors face from loss of lives, property or critical assets in their natural environment and cultural heritage.

 

A disaster prevention and response “tool kit” focused on binational cooperation will be developed with the EMCs of  local communities  including comprehensive maps from a seamless GIS-based depiction of spatial data the physical landscape, digital elevation models, floodplains and specific data layers such as transportation arteries, critical care facilities, toxic “hot spots” and evacuation routes. Communication protocols and compatible systems will be a key element as will the translation of all audio and print materials.

 

The plan and the “kit” will be developed with an explicit training component to make certain that each participating community has an in-house capability to update and improve upon the plans and materials once the project is completed. The specific content or curriculum, for that training will be developed for each community based on needs, but can be assumed to cover real-time GIS, emergency communications management, risk assessment for flooding, hazmat, wind storms, evacuations.

 

Tabletop simulations will be held at the start and conclusion of each TRIM project, probably on or near the international bridge. These will not only help engage key local EM staff and leaders but the larger community as well.

 

TRIM Teams:  Project development and planning services will be provided to border jurisdictions by teams drawn from a consortium of US and Mexican universities, NGOs, border businesses and their consultants. The work on each project will be closely coordinated with key state and federal agencies, building on vital work done by Homeland Security, TxDOT, GDEM, TCEQ, EPA, SEMARNAT, Water Development Board, CNA etc. Two non-profit organizations, the Rio Grande Institute (RGI) and Mundo Sustentable, AC (MS), will lead TRIMCO’s NGO section. Texas A&M International University, along with the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and/or the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey will co-chair the university section. The 2006-2007 planning meetings for this initiative were hosted by the Camara Nacional de Industrias de Transformacion (CANACINTRA) which will co-chair the TRIM Consortium’s  private sector liaison section along with a US counterpart organization.  RGI and MS are co-managers of the TRIM Consortium (TRIMCO) which is being organized as an association under applicable US and Mexican law.  Laurel Lacey, one of the outstanding disaster management planning expert is a consultant to TAMIU and RGI on the Cover the Border Hazard Mitigation Plan and has agreed to join this new initiative. She will work with another expert consultant who served in local management positions for border cities for many years. Dr. Alfonso Martinez will head the MS group, drawing upon his professional background in training and the experience he gained as a Regional Director for the Secretaria del Medio Ambiente y Recursos, the principal federal environmental agency in Mexico.

 

Strart-up  Pairings: The RGI is interested in launching the first TRIM pairing in Cameron County and the Municipio de Matamoros because they have greatest exposure to threats from hurricane disasters.  In 2007 Regional officials of the Consejo Nacional de la Industria de Transformacion (CANACINTRA) and and Mundo Sustentable facilitated informal discussions in Cd. Reynosa on a sister city mitigation project.. Other potentially paired jurisdictions where TAMIU and RGI have some relevant experience are Webb, Zapata and Starr Counties paired with the Municipio de Nuevo Laredo; Eagle Pass (Maverick County)  paired with Piedras Negras; Del Rio paired with the Municipios de Acuna; Presidio County paired with the Municipio de Ojinaga as well as El Paso County and the Municipio de Juarez.

 

CURRENT PROJECT: TRIM I  -  CROSS-BORDER  CAPACITY BUILDING FOR DISASTER PREVENTION

Project  Objective: The  purpose of the start-up project for the TRIM Program is to design and apply a technical assistance protocol and training curriculum for transboundary hazard assessment and mitigation in a pair of sister jurisdictions on the US-Mexico border. There will be two outcomes:

1.    a sustainable disaster protection strategy and action plan for participating communities within the two “pilot” jurisdictions.

2.    a tool kit for the technical assistance and training  that will serve as the basis for a series of transboundary hazard assessment and disaster prevention projects among other sister jurisdictions along the entire US-Mexico border.

 

Estimated start/completion dates:  The kick-off project in two paired jurisdictions will begin in July 2008 and extend over 12 months until June 30, 2009.

 

 

SCOPE OF WORK – TASK and TIMELINE

 

TASK ONE – Capacity Assessment   Months 0-3:

This will precede the mitigation planning and lay the groundwork for capacity building.

A binational team of experts will inventory the needs of participating communities for

technical assistance and training. As part of a self-discovery strategy for local residents and

officials a table top event or workshop will be conducted in the first weeks of the Project

focused on several preventable transboundary incidents.                            

 

TASK TWO – Hazard Identification, Analysis and Risk Assessment including GIS, Months 2-5:

A team of consultants will develop and follow a systematic check-list to uncover hazards whose origins and/or impact has a transboundary dimension. The GIS will provide a fairly simple means to display, communicate and begin to analyze those hazards.

 

TASK THREE –Mitigation Planning Months 4-8:

Through a systematic process of discovery, evaluation, consultation and budgeting that includes negotiation for burden sharing on burden –sharing for the specific projects the jurisdictions will develop a joint mitigation strategy on the identified hazards. The plan will include specific mitigation actions to be taken and draft agreements required to move them forward.

 

TASK FOUR –  Mitigation Plan Adoption Months 9-11:

A second and final table top will introduce the plan and the mitigation process to residents

Each local government will be asked to bring the plan to its governing body for adoption.

 

TASK FIVE- Post-Planning Evaluation and Follow-up Training/Education Month 12.

Continuing needs for training and plans for involving local institutions on a continuing basis

will be will be identified.

 

TASK SIX –  Future Projects Month 12

TRIM Partners in consultation with potential future partners will issue a strategic proposal for the border region on joint sister city disaster prevention planning.

 

 

US and Mexican Contact Points:  For the TRIM Consortium working with Paired Jurisdictions (Contact Dr. Alfonso Martinez at amartinez@gen.tv or  Tyrus Fain tfain@riogrande.org ) For the academic collaborators: Dr. Ken Tobin, ktobin@tamiu.edu

 

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