Estimated Benefits of IBWC Rio Grande Flood-Control Projects in the United States

The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) is responsible for maintaining a series of flood-control projects beginning in New Mexico and extending along the Rio Grande’s international border dividing the United States and Mexico. A review by the USIBWC indicate that, over time, the flood-control capability of the levees has been compromised, possibly to the point where the level of protection is below original-design capacities. Prior to investing federal monies in the rehabilitation of major flood-system infrastructure, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget requires an economic analysis of expected benefits, or losses avoided with implemented protection measures. Recent flood events along the international border, resulting in significant economic damages and loss of human life, emphasized the need for a timely assessment of impacts of potential flood-control failure. Given a short project time line mandated by IBWC and the large geographic extent of the river- and floodway-levee system, innovative methods were developed to conduct a rapid and preliminary economic assessment of the flood-control infrastructure. Estimates for four major project areas relating only to the U.S.-side of the border only (stretching from Caballo Reservoir in New Mexico to the Rio Grande’s mouth, near Brownsville, TX.) comprise the study’s focus. Millions populate the cities and towns along these economic reaches of the Rio Grande where extensive housing, commerce, industry, tourism, and irrigated agricultural production exist. Areas susceptible to flooding, along with land-use, were identified and quantified through high-resolution map imagery. Estimates of representative residential, commercial, and industrial property values and agricultural production values were developed from property assessment records, economic development councils, crop enterprise budgets and cropping patterns, census data, previous U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ flooding studies, etc. Gross economic values of flood-control benefits for a sample of each of the land-use types were determined and extrapolated to similar land-use areas in the flood zone. This analytical method provides a rapidassessment of potential flood-control benefits for a single event for each of the four IBWCdesignated flood-control project areas. An aggregate estimate arrived at by summing the potential benefits across all four project areas assumes avoidance of, or protection against, a simultaneous breach in all areas. Baseline economic benefits for agriculture and developed property along the Rio Grande Canalization project are estimated at $13.7 million (basis FY 2004). Comparable estimates for the Rio Grande Rectification project are$139.1 million, while those for the Presidio Valley Flood Control project amount to $2.9 million. The Lower Rio Grande Flood Control project is estimated to provide$167.2 million in flood-control benefits. Combined, the four project areas provide $322.9 million in flood-control protection benefits in the baseline analysis. When preliminary estimates of$183.0 million in other costs (i.e., emergency, roads, utilities, and vehicles) are added to the baseline estimate, the total floodcontrol protection benefits provided by the four project areas increases to $506.0 million

The GenoChip: A New Tool for Genetic Anthropology

The Genographic Project is an international effort aimed at charting human migratory history. The project is nonprofit and nonmedical, and, through its Legacy Fund, supports locally led efforts to preserve indigenous and traditional cultures. Although the first phase of the project was focused on uniparentally inherited markers on the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the current phase focuses on markers from across the entire genome to obtain a more complete understanding of human genetic variation. Although many commercial arrays exist for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, they were designed for medical genetic studies and contain medically related markers that are inappropriate for global population genetic studies. GenoChip, the Genographic Project’s new genotyping array, was designed to resolve these issues and enable higher resolution research into outstanding questions in genetic anthropology. The GenoChip includes ancestry informative markers obtained for over 450 human populations, an ancient human (Saqqaq), and two archaic hominins (Neanderthal and Denisovan) and was designed to identify all known Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroups. The chip was carefully vetted to avoid inclusion of medically relevant markers. To demonstrate its capabilities, we compared the FST distributions of GenoChip SNPs to those of two commercial arrays. Although all arrays yielded similarly shaped (inverse J) FST distributions, the GenoChip autosomal and X-chromosomal distributions had the highest mean FST, attesting to its ability to discern subpopulations. The chip performances are illustrated in a principal component analysis for 14 worldwide populations. In summary, the GenoChip is a dedicated genotyping platform for genetic anthropology. With an unprecedented number of approximately 12,000 Y-chromosomal and approximately 3,300 mtDNA SNPs and over 130,000 autosomal and X-chromosomal SNPs without any known health, medical, or phenotypic relevance, the GenoChip is a useful tool for genetic anthropology and population genetics

Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) (Semester Unknown) IPRO 370: Crisis Management and Security Program IPRO 370 Brochure2 Sp08

The IIT IPRO 370 Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) is in its fourth stage of development. The current goal is to further develop the capabilities of our web based program that can be used by organizations to assist when determining how well their crisis management plans stand up to different methodologies, assessments, and scenarios during the testing process. Also to start marketing our web site to attract a community of many users to assist in the growth of the CMS program. The initial grant for this project was funded by the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. Ms. Irene Rozansky, CEO and founder of R&A Crisis Management Services Inc. will be our sponsor to ensure that we develop a program able to test existing crisis management plans for companies, organizations, and individuals who lack a response ready approach in times of crisis.Deliverable

Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) (Semester Unknown) IPRO 370: Crisis Management and Security Program IPRO 370 Final Report Sp08

The IIT IPRO 370 Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) is in its fourth stage of development. The current goal is to further develop the capabilities of our web based program that can be used by organizations to assist when determining how well their crisis management plans stand up to different methodologies, assessments, and scenarios during the testing process. Also to start marketing our web site to attract a community of many users to assist in the growth of the CMS program. The initial grant for this project was funded by the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. Ms. Irene Rozansky, CEO and founder of R&A Crisis Management Services Inc. will be our sponsor to ensure that we develop a program able to test existing crisis management plans for companies, organizations, and individuals who lack a response ready approach in times of crisis.Deliverable

Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) (Semester Unknown) IPRO 370: Crisis Management and Security Program IPRO 370 Ethics Sp08

The IIT IPRO 370 Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) is in its fourth stage of development. The current goal is to further develop the capabilities of our web based program that can be used by organizations to assist when determining how well their crisis management plans stand up to different methodologies, assessments, and scenarios during the testing process. Also to start marketing our web site to attract a community of many users to assist in the growth of the CMS program. The initial grant for this project was funded by the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. Ms. Irene Rozansky, CEO and founder of R&A Crisis Management Services Inc. will be our sponsor to ensure that we develop a program able to test existing crisis management plans for companies, organizations, and individuals who lack a response ready approach in times of crisis.Deliverable

Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) (Semester Unknown) IPRO 370

The IIT IPRO 370 Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) is in its fourth stage of development. The current goal is to further develop the capabilities of our web based program that can be used by organizations to assist when determining how well their crisis management plans stand up to different methodologies, assessments, and scenarios during the testing process. Also to start marketing our web site to attract a community of many users to assist in the growth of the CMS program. The initial grant for this project was funded by the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. Ms. Irene Rozansky, CEO and founder of R&A Crisis Management Services Inc. will be our sponsor to ensure that we develop a program able to test existing crisis management plans for companies, organizations, and individuals who lack a response ready approach in times of crisis.Deliverable

Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) (Semester Unknown) IPRO 370: Crisis Management and Security Program IPRO 370 Brochure1 Sp08

The IIT IPRO 370 Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) is in its fourth stage of development. The current goal is to further develop the capabilities of our web based program that can be used by organizations to assist when determining how well their crisis management plans stand up to different methodologies, assessments, and scenarios during the testing process. Also to start marketing our web site to attract a community of many users to assist in the growth of the CMS program. The initial grant for this project was funded by the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. Ms. Irene Rozansky, CEO and founder of R&A Crisis Management Services Inc. will be our sponsor to ensure that we develop a program able to test existing crisis management plans for companies, organizations, and individuals who lack a response ready approach in times of crisis.Deliverable

Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) (Semester Unknown) IPRO 370: Crisis Management and Security Program IPRO 370 Final Presentation Sp08

The IIT IPRO 370 Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) is in its fourth stage of development. The current goal is to further develop the capabilities of our web based program that can be used by organizations to assist when determining how well their crisis management plans stand up to different methodologies, assessments, and scenarios during the testing process. Also to start marketing our web site to attract a community of many users to assist in the growth of the CMS program. The initial grant for this project was funded by the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. Ms. Irene Rozansky, CEO and founder of R&A Crisis Management Services Inc. will be our sponsor to ensure that we develop a program able to test existing crisis management plans for companies, organizations, and individuals who lack a response ready approach in times of crisis.Deliverable

Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) (Semester Unknown) IPRO 370: Crisis Management and Security Program IPRO 370 Midterm Report Sp08

The IIT IPRO 370 Crisis Management and Security Program (CMS) is in its fourth stage of development. The current goal is to further develop the capabilities of our web based program that can be used by organizations to assist when determining how well their crisis management plans stand up to different methodologies, assessments, and scenarios during the testing process. Also to start marketing our web site to attract a community of many users to assist in the growth of the CMS program. The initial grant for this project was funded by the Homeland Security Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center. Ms. Irene Rozansky, CEO and founder of R&A Crisis Management Services Inc. will be our sponsor to ensure that we develop a program able to test existing crisis management plans for companies, organizations, and individuals who lack a response ready approach in times of crisis.Deliverable