Summary of Informal Meeting for ANSS-IMW Region, 03/28/2001

An informal meeting of participants in the ANSS Intermountain West (IMW) Region was held on 28 March 2001 from 5:30 to 6:20 p.m. on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. The meeting was convened by Walter Arabasz, Regional Coordinator, as an opportune add-on after one of the sessions of a USGS workshop on "Seismic Hazard Mapping in the Intermountain West."

Participants

Approximately 20 persons attended the meeting, including several observers and the following representatives from IMW states: AZ - Phil Pearthree (Arizona Geological Survey); CO - Vince Matthews and Bob Kirkham (both from the Colorado Geological Survey); ID - Suzette Payne (INEEL) and Jim Zollweg (Boise State University); MT - Mike Stickney (Montana Bureau of Mines & Geology); NV - John Anderson and Jim Brune (both from the University of Nevada, Reno); UT - Walt Arabasz, Sue Nava and Bob Smith (all from the University of Utah). Art Frankel of the USGS, a member of the ANSS National Steering Committee, also attended.

[Note: At a WSSPC workshop held earlier the same week in Salt Lake City, I had a chance to discuss ANSS-IMW organizational matters with Doug Bausch of Northern Arizona University, Steve Weiser of the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services, Roy Breckenridge of the Idaho Geological Survey, and Jim Case of the Wyoming State Geological Survey. -- Walt Arabasz]

Background Information

Arabasz gave the following information for general background:

• The national "Management Plan" for ANSS reportedly is nearly complete and will be posted on the ANSS Web site (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/anss/index.php) after it is delivered to Congress.
• The FY 2002 funding level for ANSS is uncertain. [President Bush's FY 2002 budget, which will include more details than included in his February budget outline to Congress, is expected to be released in April.]
• At the first meeting of the ANSS National Steering Committee (NSC) in late February, the NSC asked that each ANSS region proceed to develop a regional implementation plan - using a template to be provided by USGS management. Each region is being asked to submit (1) a one-year plan for FY 2002 by August 2001 and (2) a five-year plan for FY 2002-2006 by December 2001.
• The ANSS-IMW Region must first formalize its regional "Working Group" and create a "Regional Advisory Committee" (more below), as required under the ANSS management structure and as discussed at the IMW organizational workshop in June 2000.
• The Intermountain West region is the fastest-growing region in the U.S. According to the 2000 Census, the five fastest growing states in the Nation, are in the Intermountain West and in ranked order are: (1) Nevada (+68.3%), (2) Arizona (+40%), (3) Colorado (+30.6%), (4) Utah (+29.6%), and (5) Idaho (+28.5%). New Mexico ranked 12th with a 20.1% growth rate, Montana ranked 20th with a 12.9% rate, and Wyoming ranked 33rd with an 8.9% rate.

Discussion Items

Membership in IMW Region.-- At the end of our June 2000 workshop, three states remained undecided whether and/or how to affiliate with the IMW Region--Nevada, Idaho, and Texas.

John Anderson now reports that Nevada will be a core member of the IMW region insofar as the California region will be administered as a state unit by CISN, the California Integrated Seismic Network. Nevada will continue close coordination with California, however. Idaho would like to be part of both the Pacific Northwest Region (because of Jim Zollweg's and western Idaho's affinity to the PNW) and the IMW Region (because of the earthquake geography of eastern Idaho). Deciding how to handle core and affiliate status for Idaho in the two regions is under continuing discussion.

There were no participants at the meeting from Texas, and its status in the IMW Region remains unresolved. In an earlier communication to the ANSS-IMW listserver on March 19, 2001, Arabasz asked prospective participants from Texas to talk among themselves to decide whether Texas indeed wants to join the IMW Region either as a core or affiliate member.

Forming a Working Group for the IMW Region.-- Under the ANSS management structure, this is the implementation (or "get it done") group. At the June 2000 workshop, the decision was make to include a representative from each participating state as well as representatives from Yellowstone National Park, the National Strong Motion Program (NSMP), and the Bureau of Reclamation (see http://www.seis.utah.edu/anss/wkshopsum.shtml). Based on discussion at the March 28 meeting, the provisional makeup of the IMW Working Group will be as follows:

• AZ - Doug Bausch (pending consultation with Terry Wallace)
• CO - Anne Sheehan
• ID - Jim Zollweg and Suzette Payne (to bridge western and eastern Idaho)
• MT - Mike Stickney
• NM - Rick Aster
• NV - John Anderson
• TX - [membership decision in IMW unresolved]
• UT - Walt Arabasz (also serving as Regional Coordinator)
• WY - Jim Case (or his designee)
• Bureau of Reclamation - Jon Ake
• NSMP - (to be arranged)
• Yellowstone - Bob Smith
• "At Large" - Sue Nava (as a valuable resource for Earthworm connectivity and her experience with installing urban strong-motion stations)

Note: Each Working Group member is responsible for interacting with stakeholders in their respective state, especially with the state emergency management organization, the state geological survey, and engineers.

Towards a Regional Advisory Committee for the IMW Region.-- The breadth of desirable representation on the Regional Advisory Committee was discussed and outlined at the June 2000 Workshop (see http://www.seis.utah.edu/anss/wkshopsum.shtml). It's recognized that urban strong-motion networks ought to have the guidance of local stakeholders-- hence the importance of state-level advisory committees where urban strong-motion networks are planned. (Our June 2000 plan calls for each state-level advisory committee to have a representative on the Regional Advisory Committee.)

It was agreed that the IMW Working Group should be formalized first, and then recommendations/nominations would be made by the various states for constituting the Regional Advisory Committee.

Next Steps

1. Resolve membership (and/or type) in the IMW Region for Idaho and Texas.
2. Finalize makeup of IMW Working Group
3. Organize/interact with stakeholders in individual states
4. Submit recommendations for membership on the Regional Advisory Committee [Walt Arabasz will issue a call for recommendations/nominations at a later date.]
5. Await "template" from USGS for formulation of one-year and five-year implementation plans for the IMW Region.
6. Use telephone conference calls for group discussions among IMW Working Group members to advance implementation plans.

Reminder

There will be an open informational ANSS meeting on Tuesday, April 17, 2001, as part of the Annual Meeting of the Seismological Society of America in San Francisco. The ANSS meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the International Room of the Cathedral Hill Hotel.

-- Walter Arabasz, Regional Coordinator

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