As part of a social science research study in partnership with the National Weather Service (NWS), Nurture Nature Center (NNC) is recruiting participants for focus groups on the use of NWS flood forecast and warning tools. The NNC-hosted focus groups will meet in Easton, Pennsylvania on June 10 and in Lambertville, New Jersey on June 11. 

Participants will be asked to review products that NWS issues during flood events to give feedback about how they understand and respond to them. The results will be used to help NWS improve its products so that they are easier to understand and so that they better motivate individuals to respond to flood messages. 

NNC is looking for a mix of residents who live in floodplains and don’t, and a mix of those who have experience using these tools and those who don’t. Participants should reside in the Easton and Lambertville areas (including surrounding municipalities), and be at least 18 years of age.

There will be two sessions at each location, one taking place in the afternoon and one in the evening. Attendance is limited to 15 per session and participants will be paid $30 for their two hours’ time.

Registration is required. Interested persons may register online at www.focusonfloods.org/socialscience or by contacting Rachel Hogan Carr (610-253-4432 or rhogan@nurturenature.org).

**Update: All focus groups are full. Please contact Rachel Hogan Carr at the above phone number or email address to be notified about the second round of focus groups, to be held in Easton, Pa. and Lambertville, N.J., in the Fall 2013.

Additional information about this project can be viewed at www.focusonfloods.org/socialscience.

The Nurture Nature Center is an Easton, Pa. non-profit organization that concentrates on flood education. 

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Dates, Times, and Locations (please note that the focus groups are full):

Monday, June 10
Session #1: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Nurture Nature Center, 518 Northampton St., Easton, Pa.
Session #2: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. - Nurture Nature Center, 518 Northampton St., Easton, Pa.

Tuesday, June 11
Session #1: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Lambertville City Hall, 18 York St., Lambertville, N.J.
Session #2: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. - Inn at Lambertville Station (Creekside Room), 11 Bridge St., Lambertville, N.J.

Serious flooding (particularly the record flood of 1955) was one of the primary reasons that led to the creation of the DRBC in 1961. However, over the next 40+ years the Delaware River and those living or working along its banks were much more familiar with droughts than floods. This hydrologic pattern would change beginning in 2004.

In September 2004, April 2005, and June 2006, three major floods caused devastation along the main stem Delaware River, repeatedly damaging property and disrupting tens of thousands of lives. These were the worst floods to occur on the main stem since 1955. The last known occurrence of three main stem floods of comparable magnitude within so short a time span was the period from March 1902 to March 1904.

The four basin state governors in September 2006 directed DRBC staff to convene an interstate task force to develop a set of measures to reduce the impacts of flooding along the Delaware and its tributaries. The Delaware River Basin Interstate Flood Mitigation Task Force issued a report in July 2007 identifying 45 recommendations in six areas: flood warning, reservoir operations, floodplain regulation, floodplain mapping, structural and non-structural mitigation, and stormwater management.

Visit the commission's flood loss reduction page to learn more about the ongoing efforts by DRBC and numerous partners to implement the July 2007 recommendations as resources become available, especially in the area of flood warning enhancements.