Flood Mitigation Expert Lucinda Andreani Brings Decades of Experience to Globe-Miami

In August 2022, Lucinda Andreani led a group of federal officials through neighborhoods near Flagstaff devastated by post-wildfire flooding. She and her team had spent the morning explaining the damage and making the case for millions of dollars in federal assistance. That afternoon, another flood hit.

The officials, including representatives from federal agencies in Albuquerque and Washington, D.C., witnessed firsthand the kind of flash flooding residents had endured since the Pipeline Fire earlier that summer.

"They were like, 'Oh my God, we had no idea this is what it was like,'" Andreani recalled. The experience helped make the case for federal investment in flood mitigation projects that would eventually total approximately $120 million.

Now, after more than two decades with Coconino County, Andreani is bringing that experience to the Globe-Miami region, where local governments and Freeport-McMoRan have joined forces to pursue a long-term approach to flood control.

The Copper Country Flood Mitigation Initiative brings together Gila County, the City of Globe and the Town of Miami to develop a regional flood mitigation plan. Andreani, whose work is being funded by Freeport-McMoRan, is coordinating the effort.

Andreani's background includes work in California's utility industry, where she worked for Pacific Gas and Electric and gained early experience with the effects of wildfires on watersheds and infrastructure. After moving from California to Flagstaff, she started a consulting business and enrolled at Northern Arizona University to study archaeology and cultural anthropology. She eventually joined Coconino County government, where her work initially focused on special districts and county administration. Then came the 2010 Schultz Fire.

The fire burned thousands of acres on the San Francisco Peaks, leaving the surrounding watersheds vulnerable to flooding. Within a month, a flood swept through neighborhoods east of Flagstaff, affecting approximately 1,000 homes and claiming the life of a 12-year-old girl.

"We didn't know what to do," Andreani recalled. "We had never been through this." At the time, few examples existed of large-scale efforts to reduce flooding after wildfires. Andreani and her colleagues began contacting other communities, consulting engineers, and seeking funding to develop solutions.

The work involved restoring damaged watersheds, building drainage infrastructure, and negotiating easements with property owners. It also required extensive coordination with the U.S. Forest Service, which had little experience with the type of watershed restoration being proposed on federal land.

It took three years to begin construction on some of the projects, but the improvements eventually proved their value. During an extreme rainfall event in 2018, Andreani said homes protected by the mitigation measures avoided interior flooding, even though the system had been designed for a much smaller storm.

The county faced additional challenges following the 2019 Museum Fire and the 2022 Pipeline Fire, which burned portions of the same area affected by the Schultz Fire. By 2022, Andreani and her team had a better understanding of what needed to happen, and how quickly.

Following the Pipeline Fire, the county produced more than one million sandbags and installed over four miles of protective barriers in approximately a month. Despite 45 major flood events that summer, Andreani said only eight homes experienced interior flooding.

The county was also pursuing funding for permanent improvements across nine watersheds. Andreani worked with Arizona's congressional delegation and federal agencies to secure support for the projects. The resulting flood mitigation system included watershed restoration, large underground drainage pipes, and detention facilities designed to manage runoff and sediment.

The Schultz/Pipeline Flood Mitigation System was named a 2026 Project of the Year by the Arizona Chapter of the American Public Works Association. Andreani also received Coconino County's Medal of Merit in October, the highest honor awarded by its Board of Supervisors.

Her experience taught her that recovery from wildfire-related flooding takes years, and sometimes decades.

"This isn't ... you have a few rainfall events and then everything heals and you're okay," she said.

Andreani was already familiar with Gila County when severe flooding struck Globe and Miami in fall 2025. She had assisted the county following the 2021 Telegraph Fire, and after the more recent flooding, Globe officials contacted her for guidance on securing federal assistance and developing mitigation projects. Freeport-McMoRan later approached her about helping establish a regional effort involving all three jurisdictions.

"They said, 'We want to see a coordinated effort, a coordinated collaborative effort with the three jurisdictions,'" Andreani recalled.

The resulting Copper Country Flood Mitigation Initiative is supported by an intergovernmental agreement approved earlier this year by Gila County, Globe and Miami. The agreement commits the jurisdictions to work together on a regional flood mitigation plan, although it does not obligate them to fund specific projects. Freeport-McMoRan has agreed to fund Andreani's work coordinating the initiative.

Gila County Manager Michael O'Driscoll, Globe City Manager Paul Jepson and Miami Town Manager Alexis Rivera are meeting approximately every two weeks with Andreani to identify funding opportunities and organize the planning effort.

The region presents challenges that differ from those Andreani encountered in Coconino County. While some neighborhoods near Flagstaff had experienced little flooding before the Schultz Fire, Globe and Miami have a long history of flood events. Andreani noted that the region experienced major flooding as far back as 1954.

Four watersheds are of particular concern, with steep terrain and narrow drainage corridors that carry water and sediment through developed areas.

"The downstream is actually much more challenging than it was in Coconino County because you've got fairly densely populated areas," Andreani said.

She sees opportunities for improvements both upstream and within the communities themselves. Upstream measures could help reduce the amount of sediment and debris carried into developed areas. Downstream projects might include detention basins, larger drainage systems, channel improvements or flood protection measures for individual homes and businesses.

Deciding which projects to pursue will require engineering studies and an assessment of costs, environmental impacts and property rights. Landowner cooperation will also be important. Andreani recalled that many Coconino County projects depended on residents voluntarily granting drainage easements so protective infrastructure could be built on private property.

And while improvements can reduce damage, Andreani cautioned against expecting any system to prevent flooding under every circumstance.

"You cannot mitigate every rainfall event," she said.

Before the region can begin designing major projects, it needs a plan. The immediate priority is securing approximately $2 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations program.

Gila County previously applied for the program, and Andreani said the application has passed through the state-level review process but remains on a national funding waitlist. The program provides funding through three phases: planning, engineering and design, and construction. Projects are evaluated at each stage to determine whether they qualify to advance.

Andreani said the process typically takes three to five years, sometimes longer, depending on the projects involved and the availability of funding. The planning phase reviews potential improvements across the region and identifies projects that are feasible, financially justified, and eligible for federal assistance.

Unlike many other funding programs, Andreani said the NRCS program does not require a local financial match for those three phases, making it especially attractive to communities with limited resources.

Getting the planning money released is now the biggest hurdle. Andreani expects the effort to require advocacy from local governments and industry, working with Arizona's congressional delegation to make the case for federal investment.

In the meantime, emergency mitigation projects funded through a separate NRCS program are already underway. Following the 2025 flooding, Gila County received approximately $30 million in emergency watershed funding, according to Andreani, with additional awards going to Globe and Miami.

Those projects have focused on more immediate needs, including removing sediment from drainage channels, stabilizing damaged infrastructure and addressing areas where floodwaters have created hazards. The regional initiative will examine longer-term improvements that may take several years to plan, fund and construct.

The Copper Country Flood Mitigation Initiative is scheduled to be introduced publicly at the Gila County Board of Supervisors meeting on November 17, followed by presentations to the Globe and Miami councils.

Andreani said the work will require continued cooperation among the jurisdictions, along with communication with residents and businesses that could be affected by future projects. For residents who have experienced repeated flooding, she hopes the initiative offers reassurance that local leaders are committed to addressing the problem.

"First and foremost is ... to know that there are people who care about what they have experienced," Andreani said.

She knows the work ahead will take time. In Coconino County, years of planning, negotiations, and construction followed the initial devastation of the Schultz Fire. The improvements that eventually protected hundreds of homes began with many of the same challenges now facing Globe and Miami.

Andreani has seen what can happen when communities commit to finding solutions, even when the path forward is complicated and the funding uncertain. For Copper Country residents who have watched floodwaters return year after year, that experience offers something worth holding onto: the possibility that the next storm won't have to bring the same devastation as the last.