Trans-Boundary Risk
Identification
and Mitigation System
Cd. Acuna-Del Rio
Workshop
July 23, 2009
•
Part I
WHAT IS A TRIMS ?
• A set of arrangements through which sister
jurisdictions on Mexico-US border
formalize and/or strengthen cooperation to
identify and mitigate those risks whose
origins and/or impacts extend across the
international boundary.
TRIMS
Word-for-Word
Transboundary Risk - the prospect of an event occurring in association
with a natural disaster or catastrophic accident whose impact extends
across the international boundary and threaten lives and property.
• Incident that may pose a threat to both cities and the region
• Incidents affecting one city or region to the extent assistance is
necessary from the other city or region
Identification – a shared perception that something can or might exist
Mitigation - elimination or reduction of frequency, magnitude, or severity
of exposure to risk .
System - as used in planning:
• a set of facts, principles, rules, etc. classified or arranged in a regular,
orderly form so as to show a logical plan linking the various parts
• an established way of doing something; method; procedure
Who identifies the risks and defines
needed “Mitigation Actions”?
TRIMS is conceived as a grass-roots, riskdriven disaster mitigation planning in
which the contiguous communities analyze
the risks they share and adopt mitigation
measures they can execute through legally
sanctioned cooperation.
Who is promoting TRIMS planning?
In January FEMA and the Texas Governors Division
of Emergency Management approved the Cover
the Border Hazard Mitigation Plan for 66 local
jurisdictions on Texas border.
Plan recognized that transboundary hazards
presented grave threats to life and property and
recommended extraordinary binational planning
initiative supported by local, state and federal
authorities
Is TRIMS emergency response
planning ?
• No, this is mitigation planning focused on
identifying risks and trying to reduce or eliminate
them well before a disaster occurs.
• A TRIMS should make the work of first
responders and all emergency workers easier and
safer but plays no role during an incident.
• To the extent that communications and response
protocols are inadequate, this could be considered
as a risk.
TRIMS Development Teams
As the concept is embraced locally there will be
as many “teams” formed as there are sister
jurisdictions interested in establishing a TRIMS.
A “Kick-off” team for Del Rio-Acuna workshop
is being organized by participants from the Cover
the Border planning group: Rio Grande Institute,
Texas A & M International University.
Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon
represented by Dr. Alfonso Martinez has joined
the team, working with Bill Skeen, President Rio
Grande Institute, and senior consultants to the Rio
Grande Institute, Larry Dovalina and Remberto
Arteaga as well Laurel Lacy of Lacy Associates.
Sources of Input for TRIMS
Planning
 Consulates of the Governments of Mexico and US
 U.S. Department of State- Offices U. S.- Mexico Border Affairs
and International Communications Policy
 Governor’s Division of Emergency Management (Tx)
 Protection Civil – Sec. De Gobernacion /Tamaulipas and Coahuila
 Texas National Guard
 Local governments from Brownsville/Matamoros to
to Ciudad Acuña/Del Rio.
 Local and Regional Emergency Management officials
 Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council
 Middle Rio Grande Valley Development Council
 Border 2012 – EPA/SEMARNAT
 International Boundary and Water Commission/CILA
 FEMA, Region 6 and Office of International Affairs
 UT Space Science Center
 Texas Natural Resources Information System
 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
What is new about TRIMS ?
Cooperative projects already exist
• The Border Mechanism and exemplary informal
cooperative arrangements are in place. Notably, there are
two well-established, treaty-based structures for levee
protection and haz-mat threats – IBWC and Sister City
Plans supported by EPA/SEMARNAT.
• TRIMS planning helps local governments cooperate on a
risk-driven approach that generates local actions supported
as needed by federal and state.
• A TRIMS can put any transboundary contingency “on the
table” for mitigation action.
What Agencies will Sanction Local TRIMS ?
• The Cover the Border Plan: Adopted by sixty-six participating US cities and
counties and approved by FEMA and the Governor of Texas’s Division of
Emergency Management in December, 2008 the CTB provides an
unequivocal recognition of the need for TRIMS in border communities.
• US and Mexico: Each local TRIMS will be tailored to conform to the October
2008 Agreement on Emergency Management Cooperation in Cases of Natural
Disasters and Accidents. Hopefully, Working Group to be formed under the
agreement will be in place soon and establish “TRIMS-friendly norms.”
•
Other agreements: All TRIMS will be subject to applicable laws and will be
shaped in conformity and consultation wherever possible with the local, state
and federal authorities having jurisdiction
Part II – First year
• Local workshops postponed on advice of federal
authorities, first because of Hurricane Dolly then by
influenza.
• Hazard assessment consultations in US and Mexico have
proceeded in working meetings with local, state and
federal emergency managers.
• Findings: All Rio Grande border communities face threats
associated with inability to predict inundation patterns,
organize cross-border evacuations, address
communications protocols and interoperability.
• Sister City updates needed.
A regional vision has emerged

Strengthen bi-national commitments between US and
Mexican local and regional jurisdictions for cooperation on
management of natural disasters and potentially
catastrophic accidents
 Provide training and capacity building to local
governments wishing to meet challenges for transboundary disaster preparedness, response and recovery;
and thereby
 Diminish risks faced by residents of the US and Mexico
border from trans-boundary hazards that can threaten
their lives, property, economy and social well-being
TRIMS Planning Area
Key Element: A TRIMS REGIONAL SUPPORT CENTER
•
Concept - As soon as practicable the TRIMS Progam will integrated into the work of a
sustainable border-based training Center or Institute for local emergency management
capacity building. Specific features of TRIMS will include:
•
Flood Inundation Models: Training local emergency managers for using and enhancing flood
inundation models and GIS
•
Directories: Procedures and software for compiling directories and emergency contact
protocols, including one sister-city prototype
•
Communications Interoperability: Training and technical assistance for local officials to
improve their cross-border emergency communication capacities in conformity with
requirements of the US and Mexican governments
•
Hazard Assessment Training : Developing and testing through local workshops procedures and
techniques for identifying and analyzing the trans-boundary hazards that threaten residents
•
“Sister City Agreements”: Seek the legal and financial underpinnings needed to sustain existing
arrangements between “Sister Cities”
Key element:Trans-Boundary
Emergency Management Directory
•
This electronic directory will provide contact information and emergency
communications protocols for use by authorized emergency management officials
in contiguous sister jurisdictions along the US-Mexico border
•
The Directory will provide the essential contact information needed for every-day
communication and information needed in real-time to maintain communications
during emergencies
•
Due to the sensitive nature of some of the information, controlling access to
Directory will be a critical component
•
The Directory will provide means for linkage to key external contacts, both
hierarchical and geographical to be used in extraordinary circumstances
•
All user information and protocols will be available in English and Spanish and
constantly updated
Key Element:Emergency
Communications Training

With concurrence from the Department of State pursuant to the United StatesMexico High Level Consultative Commission on Telecommunications (“HLCC”),
TRIMS will develop a curriculum to train emergency management coordinators,
public affairs officers, and support staff from border area local governments and
extraterritorial jurisdictions in the procurement, maintenance, operation, and
security of communications equipment. Under the HLCC efforts are currently
underway in California, Arizona, and New Mexico to advance cross-border
communication networks

Working with GDEM and DPS, establish protocols needed to ensure effective
communication between emergency management coordinators, emergency
management agencies, local governments, and extra-jurisdictional entities such
drainage districts

The enhancement of public safety communications and protocols are designed to
focus on the interoperability of cross border communications systems

The communications training will improve the capacity of local governments to
communicate using defined radio frequency links across jurisdictional lines to
exchange critical information in times of natural disasters, accidents, and emergencies
Key Element: Local Government
“Sister Jurisdiction” Hazard Assessment Workshops
 TRIMS will sponsor workshops between local jurisdictions
along the U.S. Mexico border focused on improving their
capacity to identify and mitigate risks to human life, property,
and economic activity from natural disasters and accidents that
impact both sides of the international boundary
 The local governments will be encouraged to prioritize those
risks that have potential impact on both sides of the border
 The identification of these risks are designed to create
mitigation projects
Part III Workshops -Purposes
 Facilitate training, technical assistance, and planning
of participating “sister jurisdictions”
 Improve capacity to anticipate shared hazards
 Develop information and procedures for cross border
evacuation contingencies
 Support update and expansion of existing hazmat
sister city arrangements
 Enhance public safety communications
Del Rio and Ciudad Acuna Kick-off
Workshop
Participants:
– City of Del Rio
– Ciudad Acuna
Facilitators:
– Rio Grande Institute
– Mundo Sustentable
Contributors to the process
• List of partipants will be provided with final
power point
Workshop Ground Rules
1. Working meeting leading up to design and
acceptance of a TRIMS for Cd Acuna and Del
Rio. This is for the “Sister Cities”.
2. NOT a conference, seminar, symposium or
outreach meeting.
3. Speak freely. Nothing is official until there is a
draft TRIMS to be approved by the “Sister
Cities.”
More ground rules
• Agenda is set to establish a TRIMS to meet
the needs of the “Sister Cities”
• Focus on transboundary hazards and
mitigation actions
• Facilitators guide and enforce agenda
Agenda
• (insert agenda here)
Outcomes Checklist
• Conclusion of workshop will involve
review of original outcomes sought and any
additions
• Review will include who will write
narrative and who will serve as resources to
help
Outcomes & Follow-up
RE: Who Does Hazard Assessment Narratives
1.
2.
Confirmation/Validation of
 Inundation risks - Lead __Support from__
 Interoperability- Lead __ Support from__
 Directories / protocols - Lead__ Support from ___
 US-Mexico Evacuation - Lead__ Support from __
 Sister City Contingency Plan- Lead__ Support from __
Description of workshop-identified risks
(Facilitator will list and determine who
will provide/authorize narrative & input)
Outcomes & Follow-up
RE: Designing and Populating GIS
•
•
•
•
•
Base Map to be provided by _______
Architecture to be provided by ______
Data layers and sources ________
______ ________
______ ________
Curriculum Development and Training
• Identified needs – who will provide
narrative from workshop
• Follow-up curriculum development
institution (who will draft)
• Training venues – list and assign follow-up
Outcomes & Follow-up
MitigationAction Narratives
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
Sanderson, TX
USGS archives
Fall 2008
Rio Grande River
Flooding