Floodplain Management Program Notes
by Bill DeGroot, P.E., Manager, Floodplain Management Program
Cooperating Technical Partner
The District was the first organization to sign a Cooperating Technical Partner
(CTP) agreement with FEMA, and we continue to be one of the most active CTPs.
Our recent activities under this program are described below.
DFIRM conversion projects
In late 2003 we began Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) conversion
projects for the City and County of Denver and Northern Douglas County. For the
Denver project FEMA provided a $150,000 grant, and the District and Colorado
Water Conservation Board (CWCB) each contributed $25,000. Our contractor was
Merrick and Co. We finished our scope of work in April, and the post processing
work is now underway by Michael Baker, Jr., FEMA's National Service Provider.
For Douglas County we divided the project into the area located within the
District and the area outside. FEMA contributed $240,000 and the District and
CWCB $30,000 each for the District portion of the county, which includes Lone
Tree and Parker. Our contractor was Icon Engineering. The CWCB is managing the
conversion of the rest of the county. The contractor is URS Corporation. We
completed our scope of work and turned our work products over to URS in May. URS
is handing the post processing.
The Boulder County DFIRM conversion is being managed by the CWCB. The
contractor is PBS&J. FEMA is contributing $200,000, the CWCB $25,000 and the
District $5000. Completion is scheduled for June, 2005. The City of Boulder,
FEMA, CWCB and the District are also working on a hydrology and hydraulic study
of South Boulder Creek in Boulder and Boulder County
In September, 2003, FEMA provided funding for updating flood data for seven
miles of Plum Creek and East Plum Creek in Douglas County. The District managed
the study, and Icon was the contractor.
FEMA contributed $75,000 and the District $25,000. The work products were
digital flood hazard data that was provided to URS for inclusion in the Douglas
County DFIRM, and the District's standard Flood Hazard Area Delineation report.
Earlier this year we received FEMA DFIRM conversion grants of $480,000 each
for Adams County and Arapahoe County. The District will contribute $70,000 for
each county and the CWCB will contribute $50,000 each.
The contractor for Adams County is Icon Engineering, and for Arapahoe County
it is Merrick and Co. The Adams County project began in September and Arapahoe
County began in October. Both are scheduled for completion in September, 2005.
The City and County of Broomfield DFIRM became effective on August 18, 2004.
This DFIRM conversion was a joint effort between the District and FEMA (Michael
Baker Jr.), and is the first true DFIRM in Colorado.
Realistically, by mid-2006 we should have all of the District's area covered
with DFIRMs. That includes a Jefferson County DFIRM completed by Michael Baker,
Jr. in 2003. Our next challenge will be to obtain the responsibility for
maintaining all aspects of the DFIRMs for the District's seven counties,
including base map revisions, Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs) and new floodplain
delineations..
LOMC pilot project
On July 1, 2001 we began a pilot project with FEMA to assume the responsibility
to review requests for Letters of Map Change for the 32 communities within the
District that are participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. We are
now three months into the fourth year of the project. Our reports on the results
of the first two years are available on our web site.
We have recently added a DFIRM maintenance pilot project to our scope of
work. We will be using the Broomfield DFIRM to get a feel for what is involved
in map maintenance, including incorporating new LOMRs into the DFIRM, adding new
information to the base map, adding a new floodplain to the DFIRM and adjusting
to receipt of more accurate data. We will prepare a report at the end of the
pilot which will document lessons learned.
Other program activities
The other major activities within the program are flood warning, maintenance
eligibility, flood hazard area delineation and master plan implementation by
others. Kevin Stewart continues to assure that we have the best possible flood
detection and warning system, and he continues to be in demand as an expert in
this field. See Kevin's column elsewhere in this issue. Our maintenance
eligibility program continues to flourish under David Mallory's direction. See
David's column elsewhere in this issue.
Floodplain delineation
We completed four flood hazard area delineation (FHAD) studies this year:
Ralston and Leyden Creeks in Arvada; Kinney Creek and Fonder Draw in Douglas
County (as part of an outfall systems planning study); a re-study of the South
Platte River through Adams County and the previously mentioned Plum Creek and
East Plum Creek.
We have FHADs underway for Clear Creek through Adams County, Massey Draw and
SJCD (South) in Jefferson County, and Upper Goldsmith Gulch in Arapahoe County.
The latter two are part of outfall systems planning efforts for the two
watersheds. All of these studies are prepared in digital form compatible with
FEMA's DFIRM specifications, and will be incorporated into the appropriate
DFIRMs.
Implementation efforts
Implementation of portions of our master plans, particularly regional detention
facilities, is always a challenge. We are currently negotiating an
Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) with Denver and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal (RMA)
for the construction, operation and maintenance of a number of facilities on the
RMA. We are also negotiating an IGA with Denver and Aurora regarding the
implementation of regional detention facilities in the Upper Second Creek
watershed.
The biggest private sector accomplishment of the year was the construction by
Oakwood Homes of the Highline detention pond on Pena Boulevard right-of-way and
an open channel from the pond to Tower Road. These facilites are part of the
Irondale Gulch Outfall Systems Plan.
Check these out on our web site
We have a photo
album showing what we consider to be good examples for others to emulate.
We also have an Activity
Summary map that identifies all District studies completed or in progress.
We update the status of all our studies quarterly. It would be a good idea for
anyone working on a drainage study in the District to check this map for
existing or on-going studies that might affect their work.
|