Oklahoma History Risk Assessment & Management 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which risk posed the greatest long-term threat to Oklahoma's water supply that was identified in the state's Comprehensive Water Plan?
- Agricultural runoff contamination
- Declining aquifer levels due to over-extraction (Correct answer)
- Saltwater intrusion from Gulf of Mexico
- Industrial chemical spills into major rivers
Correct answer: Declining aquifer levels due to over-extraction
Oklahoma's Comprehensive Water Plan identified the depletion of major aquifers like the Ogallala as the most critical long-term water supply risk.
Question 2: After the Moore, Oklahoma tornado of 2013, which school construction risk management measure was debated but ultimately left to local districts?
- Mandatory underground storm shelters in new school buildings (Correct answer)
- Reinforced concrete roof construction standards
- Tornado-rated window installation requirements
- Emergency generator backup requirements
Correct answer: Mandatory underground storm shelters in new school buildings
Despite the tornado killing students at Plaza Towers Elementary, the Oklahoma Legislature left underground shelter requirements to individual school districts rather than mandating them statewide.
Question 3: Oklahoma's Indian Removal era (1830s) created significant public health risks for the Five Civilized Tribes primarily through which mechanism?
- Exposure to unfamiliar Great Plains weather
- Crowding in temporary camps causing disease outbreaks (Correct answer)
- Contaminated water sources along the Trail of Tears
- Lack of hunting grounds for food procurement
Correct answer: Crowding in temporary camps causing disease outbreaks
The forced relocation concentrated thousands of people in temporary camps with inadequate sanitation, creating conditions for cholera, dysentery, and other disease outbreaks.
Question 4: How does Oklahoma's Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan prioritize which risks receive the most funding and attention?
- By the cost of the most recent disaster of each type
- By probability of occurrence multiplied by potential impact severity (Correct answer)
- By public polling on perceived community threats
- By federal mandate regardless of local risk profile
Correct answer: By probability of occurrence multiplied by potential impact severity
Risk prioritization in Oklahoma's mitigation plan uses a standard risk formula that weighs both how likely an event is and how severe its consequences would be.
Question 5: During Oklahoma statehood negotiations in 1907, which risk to the Five Tribes' sovereignty was most formally documented and debated?
- Loss of tribal courts and legal jurisdiction
- Dissolution of communal land ownership under allotment (Correct answer)
- Removal of tribal citizenship rights for members
- Elimination of tribal language instruction in schools
Correct answer: Dissolution of communal land ownership under allotment
The Dawes Allotment Act's dissolution of communal tribal lands into individual parcels represented the most formally contested sovereignty risk during statehood negotiations.
Question 6: Which Oklahoma agency operates the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) to fund projects that reduce the risk of future disasters?
- Oklahoma Tax Commission
- Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (Correct answer)
- Oklahoma Department of Transportation
- Oklahoma Corporation Commission
Correct answer: Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management
The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management administers HMGP funds provided by FEMA following presidentially declared disasters.
Question 7: Oklahoma's experience with the 1970s oil boom taught state planners which critical lesson about economic risk management?
- Oil revenue should be invested exclusively in infrastructure
- Over-reliance on a single commodity creates extreme budget volatility (Correct answer)
- Foreign investment stabilizes resource-based economies
- Environmental regulations should be relaxed during boom periods
Correct answer: Over-reliance on a single commodity creates extreme budget volatility
The bust that followed the 1970s oil boom devastated Oklahoma's budget, teaching the danger of depending on one volatile revenue source.
Oklahoma History Risk Assessment & Management 4
Which risk posed the greatest long-term threat to Oklahoma's water supply that was identified in the state's Comprehensive Water Plan?