VSF 03.03.01: Levee Inspection Team Member
A Volunteer Support Function (VSF) is a functional area under which volunteers carry out their responsibilities. Each VSF is broken into position assignments. VSF 03.03 is the position assigned to NETs when volunteering with the Urban Flood Safety & Water Quality District (UFSWQD) as a Levee Inspection Team Member.
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The UFSWQD manages 27 miles of levees that divert Columbia River and Lower Columbia Slough floodwaters away from properties within the District boundaries. Though the levee system is well maintained, there are still known areas with risk drivers that should receive special attention during emergency response.
Inspection during high water events is critical to ensure proper operation of the flood management system. By identifying problems early on, issues can be prevented or slowed down. During a flood emergency, monitoring the levee system condition is necessary to ensure that emergency risk reduction measures are initiated quickly to avoid adverse impacts of delayed response.
Summary
Support the safety and integrity of local levees by conducting routine visual inspections using provided go-kits and reporting findings. Inspections and maintenance of the levee system promotes levee integrity in the larger effort to protect lives and property.
| Blue Skies/Grey Skies Summary | |
|---|---|
| During Blue Skies, these volunteers... | During Grey Skies, these volunteers... |
| ...train with UFSWQD personnel as needed to be ready to deploy during a high water event. | ...patrol levees during high water events and report and document potential trouble spots. |
Related Volunteer Positions
Responsibilities
- Be familiar with Levee Threat Monitoring Guidelines (UFSWQD Flood Emergency Action Plan, Appendix M, 2016)
- Patrol levees in teams of two to identify sand boils, erosion, and overtopping
- Monitor floodwalls for leaks in the monolith joints and for other sources of seepage
- Use radios for communications
- Report immediate concerns to Division Supervisor or Operations Section Chief, or otherwise hourly
- Use cell phone to take photos of issues as they arise and change to document the incident for reporting
- Use cell phone to document levee inspection forms
- Participate in scheduled training, drills, and activation exercises to maintain operational competence.
- Represent PBEM professionally and follow safety and operational guidelines at all times.
- Log all volunteer hours.
| Position ID | VSF 03.03.01: Levee Inspection Team Member |
| Mission Area | Preparedness | Response | Recovery |
| Lead Agency | This is almost always PBEM, but there are occasional exceptions. Please ask PBEM if you're not sure. |
| Active NET Required? | The majority of volunteer position descriptions are open to ATVs. Whether or not the one you are working on is should be clearly indicated in the VSF Directory. |
| Structure | Describes the position describes span of control and chain of command for the volunteer position. |
| Relevant Knowledge, Skills, Abilities | A list of ideal qualities and knowledge that a candidate for the volunteer position possesses. However, the purpose of listing them is to give volunteers a better idea of the expectations associated with the role. They are not intended as prescriptive. |
| Licenses and Certifications | Any licenses or certifications required OR recommended for this volunteer position. |
| Currency | "Currency" means how often they need to renew training or certifications, and/or contact with their team or team leader. In other words, indicates how often a volunteer must renew training and/or knowledge in order to be deployable in this volunteer position. All position descriptions should also include:
Required to complete a criminal background check at PBEM's expense every three years." |
| Physical Requirements | More detailed knowledge on the physical expectations associated with completing the position's key responsibilities. |
| Task Book | If a task book is available for this volunteer position, it will be linked here. Not every position has a task book. |
| PPE and Recommended Equipment | Any required personal protective equipment (PPE) associated with deploying in this volunteer position, and any relevant equipment that facilitates completing volunteer responsibilities. |
| Forms | Forms that a volunteer in the position should be familiar with and know how to complete. |
| Updated | Indicates by date the last time anything in the position description was changed. |
| Released | Indicates by date when the position was first released and published. |
Training for VSF 03.03.01: Levee Inspection Team Member
Important note: ONLY the trainings listed as REQUIRED are required! Optional training and supplemental resources are presented as a path for a volunteer to increase their knowledge and confidence carrying out their volunteer responsibilities. However, no volunteer's Active status depends on completing training marked as "Optional" or "Supplemental". For more information, please visit the article on Position Descriptions: Training Section.
| Training or Resource | Type | Delivery | Duration | Learning Objective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Required | ||||
| Optional |
VSF VSF 03.03.01: Levee Inspection Team Member Knowledge Base
| File/Resource | Description | Author | Publish Date |
|---|---|---|---|
