The U.S. Geological Survey is investing $1 million in a new plan to mitigate landslides that result in $1 billion in annual economic costs and are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
Landslides can be caused by earthquakes, volcanoes, storms, snow, ground left barren from wildfires. The USGS estimates from 25 to 50 people die per year from U.S. landslides. Landslides can consist of rocks, soil, debris, mud and floodwaters, causing massive damage.
“The frequency and size of landslides are expected to grow in areas due to climate change, which is increasing rainfall intensity that can trigger landslides. Climate change is also linked to more frequent and severe wildfires and recently burned areas can experience increased occurrence of landsliding due to the fire altering the soil and vegetation,” USGS says.
The federal funds will pay for local, state, tribal and territorial government projects that lower the risks for landslides, which happen in all 50 states and U.S. territories.
USGS Landslide Grants
The federal investments are from the USGS Cooperative Landslide Hazard Mapping and Assessment Program. The external grants will pay to support landslide-related communications, planning, coordination, mapping, assessments and information collection.
Through Jan. 15, 2025, the USGS is seeking a second round of project proposals for Fiscal Year 2025 landslide risk reduction science grants. Its first batch of grants was awarded to nine projects in FY2024 in Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah and Washington.
The Utah Geological Survey will spend $302,494 (with $151,247 from the federal grant), to fund a landslide inventory for mountain area valleys along the Wasatch Front, where urban housing is expanding in the oothill and lower mountain canyon areas.
“Expansion into these steeper slope areas enlarges the risk of landslide impacting the public and infrastructure. In the past few years, Utah has experienced above normal to record breaking snowpack, increasing the landslide and rockfall potential for reactivating landslides and for susceptible slopes during spring runoff and beyond,” according to the grant proposal.
The Utah Geological Survey notes that 342 people have died from landslides there since 1850, with 90% tied to snow avalanches and the remaining 10% attributed to landslides, falling rocks and flowing debris. It says nearly all recorded landslide-related deaths since 1950 are due to “human-triggered avalanches, many of these events have occurred in developed areas where appropriate mitigation measures should be employed.” The economic results from Utah landslides varied from $200 million from a 1983 landslide to $2 million from one in 2014.
New Focus to Prevent Landslides, Improve Emergency Responses
The growing momentum from the federal government is due to the 2021 passage of the National Landslide Preparedness Act. It tasks USGS with developing and publishing a national strategy about landslide hazards and lowering risks. The agency must also develop and maintain a national public database for landslide hazards and risks.
Other mandates are to expand early warning systems for flash floods and debris flows.
The USGS also is also required to create procedures to quickly send government scientists, equipment and services to landslide areas during emergencies.
Additionally, it is also expected to work with other federal agencies, such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In providing information about the impact of U.S. landslides to people, FEMA highlighted sobering statistics from California. Over 100 people have died there in the last 25 years from landslide-related flowing debris.
“Most of these deaths occurred when debris flows buried people sleeping in lower-floor bedrooms adjacent to hazardous slopes,” FEMA noted.
FEMA says landslide can travel at speeds as high as 55 mph to 100 mph. It refers to a landslide mixed with up to 60% water as a mud flow.
FEMA has a web page with safety advice about landslides and a Fact Sheet called “Be Prepared for a Landslide” that tells people who are under a landslide warning to:
- Evacuate early to avoid a landslide risk.
- Watch for signs of a landslide and flooding.
- Listen for emergency information and alerts.
Greater Preparedness
The new USGS grants offer state and local governments the ability to mitigate landslides to save lives and minimize economic damages. Climate change and the growing rate of extreme weather events, wildfires and landslides underscore the need to increase greater awareness and be better prepared.
