Madera County
2026 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines Hazard Mitigation as, “any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to life and property from natural hazards.”  Another way to understand hazard mitigation is as the prevention component of the emergency management process. (see figure)

• Preparedness activities are the emergency plans, training, drills, and exercises that individuals, communities, and first responders participate in on almost a daily basis.  These are things done to get ready for an emergency or disaster before it happens.
• Response is the short-term, emergency actions taken to address and reduce the immediate impacts of a hazard event or disaster.
• Recovery is the longer-term process of restoring the community back to normal or pre-disaster conditions.

• Mitigation, or prevention, activities are actions that will prevent or eliminate losses, even if an incident does occur. Mitigation can reduce or eliminate the need for an emergency response and greatly reduce the recovery period.

To address Hazard Mitigation in Madera County, Madera County is partnering with the incorporated communities of Chowchilla and Madera to update their 2018 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP).

Flood, drought, wildfire, and severe weather are just a few of the natural hazards of concern to Madera County.  While natural hazards such as these cannot be prevented, an LHMP forms the foundation for a community's long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses by breaking the repeated cycle of disaster damage and reconstruction.   Communities with a FEMA- approved LHMP are eligible for FEMA pre- and post-disaster grant funding and are better positioned to respond and recover when disasters occur. 

The LHMP development process is as important as the plan itself.  It creates a framework for risk-based decision making to reduce damages to lives, property, the environment, and the economy from future disasters.

Help Reduce Disaster Losses in Your Community

2018 LHMP (This is what we are updating)

(https://www.maderacounty.com/home/showpublisheddocument/17258/637031054575530000)

2026 LHMP Update

Madera County is kicking off their LHMP Update with meetings in April 2025.  The LHMP will address an updated list of hazards, will assess the likely impacts of these hazards to the people and assets of the Madera County planning area, and will establish updated goals and prioritize mitigation projects to reduce the impacts of future disasters on people and property, critical facilities and infrastructure, and the environment, as well as to local economies.

Opportunities for Input

Members of the community have a very important role in this process. A draft of the 2026 LHMP Update will be available on this website in Winter of 2026 for review and comment by the public and all interested stakeholders. 

Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC) and public meetings will also be held as part of the plan development process.  In addition to plan participation by Madera County; Cities of Chowchilla and Madera; local, state, and federal agencies; and other community stakeholders, the public is encouraged to attend and participate in our HMPC and public meetings. 

Information on specific meeting times and locations are detailed below.

Upcoming Meetings

For more information on this project and how to be involved, contact Sergeant Joseph Wilder at (559) 675-7770/ jwilder@maderacounty.com.