Floodplain Remapping Appeal Period to begin March 25

Following the 2013 flood, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB), and Boulder County have been working together to re-map the predicted 1% annual chance flood zone (100-year floodplain) through the Colorado Hazard Mapping Program (CHAMP). In September 2019, FEMA released Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for streams studied by CHAMP.

Before FEMA adopts the CHAMP maps, there will be a 90-day appeal period. The appeal period begins on Wednesday, March 25 and ends on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. To learn more about appeals, visit the county’s appeal webpage: https://www.boco.org/fema-appeals. Note that the county will only accept appeals for floodplains in the unincorporated county. If you wish to appeal floodplain mapping for an area in an incorporated town or city, please contact your town or city’s floodplain administrator.

The Board of County Commissioners adopted the Preliminary FIRMs as Boulder County Floodplain, effective Jan. 10, 2020, allowing the county to regulate floodplain development in the unincorporated county based on the best available data. The CHAMP mapping will not be used for flood insurance rating until the Preliminary FIRMs become FEMA effective FIRMs, which we expect to occur sometime in 2021.

To view the current FEMA and Boulder County Floodplains, visit www.BoCoFloodplainRemapping.com.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact Kelly Watson, Floodplain Program Planner, at kwatson@bouldercounty.org or call 720-564-2652.

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