BROWNE, CAROLYN S.
Geologic-Environmental Management Systems, Inc., Tulsa, Oklahoma

Abstract: Utilizing Geologic Knowledge and Technology in Mitigation of Public Policy Issues in Urban Settings through Adaptation of Risk Analysis

In the United States, from the most rural counties to the most urban counties, public administrators wrestle with ways of stretching public dollars for services such as public roadways, sanitary sewers, water quality and trash collection. The same happens in other countries, especially in the time of need when floods, earthquakes, blizzards and other natural phenomena occur. Emphasis is placed on the infrastructure of public services. Utilizing knowledge of geology combined with technology provides tools that may act as a method of mitigating costs of supplying those public projects.

Geology plays a major role in urban environmental impact such as the underlying stratigraphy totally ignored by most developers as urban sprawl continues with the population escalating as we draw closer to the new Millennium. Stresses and strains on natural and man-made resources occur when seasons change. The inevitable happens when torrential rains hit-rains that appear heavier than normal after a drought, some droughts nearing 100-year records, homes tend to slide down hillsides.

Reliance upon risk analysis of natural and environmental processes may be of value to public administrators and other urban planners in the allocation of limited public financial resources in providing citizens with the type and quality of public services.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90918©1999 AAPG Southwest Section Meeting, Abilene, Texas