Urban Drainage & Flood Control District

The Floodplain Management Program was established in 1974 to prevent new flood damage potential from being introduced into the 100-year floodplains while encouraging the utilization of non-structural methods of flood damage mitigation. The major activities of the program are:

(1) The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP),

(2) Floodplain regulation,

(3) Flood hazard area delineation,

(4) Development reviews,

(5) Maintenance eligibility,

(6) Master plan implementation and

(7) Public information.

The NFIP was established by the Federal government to make affordable flood insurance available to everyone while encouraging sound floodplain management. The District works with local governments to assure that they remain in the program and keep flood insurance available for their citizens. The District also works with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency which administers the NFIP, to assure consistency between District studies and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). Since mid-2001 the District has had a grant from FEMA to conduct a pilot program to review requests for Letters of Map Change to the FIRMs at the local level. Also, the District has received several grants from FEMA to convert the FIRMs to Digital FIRMs. The District has the authority to regulate floodplains but has chosen not to do so as long as the local governments implement their own regulations. The District assists the local governments with their floodplain regulations, including the requirements of the NFIP. The District continues to identify and publish 100-year floodplains through its flood hazard area delineation program. The floodplains form the basis for floodplain regulation when development is proposed.

For more information on the location and status of these flood hazard area delineation studies, visit the District’s Activity Summary. The District reviews and comments on proposed developments in or near floodplains at the request of local governments. This is where efforts are made to have developers follow or implement the appropriate portions of District master plans. The District also requires that drainage and flood control facilities constructed by, or approved for construction by, local governments must be approved by the District in order for those facilities to be eligible for assistance from the District's Maintenance Program. The determination of maintenance eligibility rests with the Floodplain Management Program. The District has a special notification program to notify occupants of floodplains of the flood potential they face. The District annually mails over 24,000 informational brochures to addresses in or adjacent to each District identified floodplain. Annual flood awareness press releases are also issued. The program staff consists of a program manager and a project engineer.