Title
APPROVAL OF A LETTER TO THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (FEMA) REQUESTING THAT EXISTING FLOOD MODELING PROCEDURES BE USED TO COMPLETE FLOOD MAPPING ALONG NON-ACCREDITED LEVEES.
Presented by: James Weber, P.E., Deputy Director of Public Works.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the letter and authorize the Chairman to sign.
Body
There are three flood mapping initiatives currently underway within Sedgwick County. FEMA has recently approved a map revision requested by the City of Wichita that affects the Dry Creek and Calfskin creeks in northwest Wichita and adjacent Sedgwick County. The City of Wichita and Sedgwick County have been working on mapping that is associated with the accreditation of the flood control levees. FEMA has been working on periodic remapping of all of Sedgwick County.
The best maps for Sedgwick County would be produced if data from all three of these projects can be merged into a single set of updated maps. The Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources (DWR) is responsible for the management of flood mapping in Kansas on behalf of FEMA. Both FEMA and DWR are in agreement that a merger of the three data sets will result in the best overall maps for Sedgwick County. This work is expected to be completed in 2014.
A recent change in policy at the federal level has the potential to significantly slow down the mapping process. FEMA is working to revise its policies regarding the mapping of floodplains along streams with non-accredited levees. There are several areas in the communities of Sedgwick County that have non-accredited levees. These are generally levees that were formed as spoil banks from the excavation of channels or that were never designed to meet FEMA requirements (so called "ag" levees). They may offer some protection from small floods but do not meet the standards that would allow them to be recognized as providing protection from the 100 year flood. FEMA's current guidance would require t...
Click here for full text