Mr. Edelman is the director of the AECOM Water Resources. He has 32 years of experience devoted to flood insurance studies and floodplain mapping. Mr. Edelman has been responsible for overseeing AECOM’s floodplain mapping and mitigation work for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as many state and local agency Cooperating Technical Partners, including agencies in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Maryland, and California and local/regional CTPs in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Mr. Edelman has had the privilege to: 1) testify before congress on the FEMA floodplain mapping program, 2) participated on a National Academies of Science study on floodplain mapping, 3) presented a significant presentation to the UN on how flood mitigation should be accomplished globally, 4) served as President of the ASFPM Foundation for six years as well as other positions within ASFPM and 5) presented to the original TMAC committee on how the floodplain maps should be modernized.
Mr. Edelman founded Watershed Concepts that grew to 12 offices nationwide with 152 staff concentrating on watershed studies and mitigation before merging into AECOM in 2007. The Watershed Concepts group remains within AECOM and has a dedicated research and development department that is funded internally to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of water resource projects. Currently, Mr. Edelman looks after approximately $200MM US revenue annually in major water resources projects.
Mr. Edelman has experience with FEMA’s Risk MAP and Map Modernization programs from the perspective of national-level planning and program management, regional implementation and study management, and state and local agency coordination. He was a key contributor to FEMA projects such as the initial Multi-Year Flood Hazard Identification Plan, developing the initial concepts for the Mapping Information Platform and contributing to Guidelines and Specifications. He has managed riverine and coastal flood insurance studies for the past 23 years including more than $220 million contracted for FEMA and FEMA-funded local agencies, including more than 15,000 Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map panels, and has managed or directed studies with detailed and limited detailed study modeling, mapping, flood insurance study report preparation, community coordination, and associated tasks. This volume represents approximately 10% to 15% of the floodplain maps in the nation.
Mr. Edelman has directed the development of AECOM’s WISE software tools, which were specifically created to streamline production of FEMA floodplain maps. He continues to oversee the company’s development of geographic information system-based tools to make the DFIRM production process more efficient and incorporate automated quality tools while meeting FEMA standards. He also led the overall development of automated tools that have reduced project schedules as much as 75 percent and costs as much as 50 percent.
