Articles by Kathy Schaefer

About Kathy Schaefer

Kathleen Schaefer is a nationally recognized expert in flood risk management. She is part of an innovative research team working at the UC Davis Watershed Science Center examining opportunities to convert flood risk into value that can be leveraged to buy down risk.

We Need to Manage Flood Risk

Now is a good time to rethink the way we manage flood risk. Or more accurately, perhaps now it is time to actually manage flood risk. 

It’s not a novel concept. Many corporations today consider active risk management an asset and a central part of the strategic management of their organization. Corporations have a Risk Manager who reports directly to the CEO. Risk Managers identify, analyze, assess, control, avoid, minimize, or eliminate unacceptable risks. In doing so, they actively manage their portfolio of risk by using risk avoidance, risk retention, risk transfer, or a combination of these strategies.   Most large government agencies also have a Risk Manager who routinely negotiates insurance contracts and works department heads to develop risk reduction strategies.