FEMA has approved updates to an existing All Hazards Mitigation Plan.

In 2020, the Doña Ana County Flood Commission Office and the Office of Emergency Management joined forces with Doña Ana County, City of Las Cruces, Village of Hatch, Town of Mesilla, City of Sunland Park, Elephant Butte Irrigation District, New Mexico State University, and City of Anthony, New Mexico to review and update the All Hazards Mitigation Plan. The goal of the mitigation planning effort is to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from all natural hazard events. Mitigation is not how we respond to emergencies like floods and wildfires, but rather how we as a community prevent the impact of such things in the first place.

The mitigation planning process involves identifying and profiling the natural hazards most likely to occur in a community, assessing the vulnerability to these hazards, and establishing goals, actions, and projects that mitigate the associated risks. The development of this mitigation plan will also ensure continued eligibility for non-emergency, federal hazard mitigation grants.

The multi-jurisdictional planning committee comprised of representatives from Doña Ana County, the Cities of Anthony, Las Cruces, and Sunland Park, the Town of Mesilla, the Village of Hatch, the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, and New Mexico State University, met regularly throughout 2020 & 2021 to review, revise and update the current All-Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The steering committee met regularly to review, revise, and/or update the following plan elements:

• Natural hazards that may impact or have impacted the community
• Profiles of the most relevant hazards
• Vulnerability assessment to the identified hazards
• Goals and objectives for hazard risk reduction/elimination
• Mitigation actions/projects to achieve the stated goals and objectives
• Plan maintenance strategy for the next 5-year cycle

The Planning and Steering Committees would like to thank members of the public for providing their input describing their experience with natural hazards within their communities, and providing commentary on the plan. All methods of public input received throughout the planning process has been included within the appendices of the report. Participating jurisdictions, along with our consultants at JE Fuller, have completed a final version of the plan update, and received FEMA approval of the plan in June 2021.

If you would like to review the plan in its entirety, the link to the Final adopted version can be found below.

2021 All Hazards Mitigation Plan Update (PDF)

For more information on the All Hazards Mitigation Plan, please contact:

Michael Garza – Engineer Supervisor
Dona Ana County Flood Commission
845 N. Motel Blvd, Room 1-250
Las Cruces, NM 88007
575-525-5553
michaelg@donaanacounty.org