The Nebraska Floodplain and Stormwater Managers Association (NeFSMA) is pleased to announce the call for abstracts for our 2021 Annual Conference on July 22, 2021. NeFSMA is seeking professional and student abstracts for oral presentations that are applicable to one of the conference topic areas listed below. The conference welcomes presenters from students and professionals in Nebraska and across the United States.

• Floodplain: Risk Management, Mapping and Flood Risk Mitigation: All aspects of floodplain management and mapping relevant to the local floodplain manager, planner, or engineer including but not limited to: minimum floodplain compliance standards, higher standards such as no adverse impact, floodplain mapping and related activities such as LOMCs, flood insurance, hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, NFIP reform, activities or projects related to flood risk mitigation either pre- or post- flood event, or the NFIP’s Community Rating System.
• Stormwater: Quantity and Quality Management: All aspects of stormwater management relevant to regulators, consultants, and developers. This includes discussion on policy, regulations, science, best practices and projects related to stormwater quantity, quality, and/or related infrastructure.
• Real World Projects: We would like to have a particular focus placed on project results, successes including beneficial partnerships, and lessons learned overall rather than the project process. Additionally, higher consideration will be given to abstracts and presentations that include input and participation from the project sponsors (i.e., communities or agencies involved).

Instructions for Submitting Abstracts:

Abstracts must be submitted online by clicking here and filling out the form. Submissions in other formats will not be considered. You will be asked to provide a brief abstract of your project (please limit to 400 words) and your bio as well as contact information. The form will also request input for virtual presentation preference if we must transition the conference to a virtual format.

Most of the presentations will be 30 minutes in length (25-minute presentation and 5 minutes for questions). However, we may have the opportunity for some longer presentations, if you are interested in a 60-minute presentation (55-minute presentation, 5 minutes for questions) make sure to request that option on the form. Please note that all presentations may be posted to our website at www.nefsma.com following the conference.

Abstracts must be received by 5:00 P.M. Wednesday, April 14, 2021. You will be notified no later than April 23, 2021 and will receive further guidelines for preparation of presentations. The registration fees for one presenter per presentation will be waived. No other expenses will be covered. If you have any questions please contact Committee Co-Chairs, Kellan Strauch at kstrauch@usgs.gov and Rocky Keehn at rocky.j.keehn@commonsensewre.com, or NeFSMA Chair Paul Woodward at pwoodward@papionrd.org.

Conference Logistics:

The conference will be held at the Younes Conference Center (map) in Kearney, Nebraska on July 22, 2021. Be on the lookout for more information including registration details in the coming weeks.

COVID-19 Information:

The safety, health and well-being of our attendees has always been the top priority and we will continue to monitor CDC and local city/state guidelines. At this time, we are unsure if we will have a full, in-person conference, a virtual conference, or a hybrid event. We will be making the decision no later than May 1, 2021.

If your organization or business would like to be a sponsor, please go to https://nefsma.com/Sponsorship for more information.

Please feel free to forward this to any colleagues or other interested groups who would consider presenting at the conference. We're always looking for great speakers!