It's spring and many of us are thinking about planting projects in our yards. Have you been thinking about converting a portion of your lawn to a rain garden, native garden area, or bee-friendly lawn? Do you have shoreline where you could restore a more natural buffer?

It's worth checking with your community, watershed district or county Soil and Water Conservation (SWCD). They often have helpful resources, and may offer classes or have staff who can give guidance. Some even provide cost-share funds to do native gardens or "rain gardens." 

We have a few DNR resources in the article below about riprap (and alternatives). In addition, a sampling of some other resources include:

• University of Minnesota Extension - Native Plants page
• Blue Thumb - Includes a wide array of resources on Lawns to Legumes, Plant Finder, and more.
• Washington Conservation District - Plant for Clean Water page
• Are you within a Watershed District? Many watershed districts have grants and can provide assistance. Check out your watershed's website.
  • Minnesota Watersheds - see state map of watersheds, and find links to watershed districts (at About, then Members).
  • Twin Cities Metro Area Watersheds interactive map (Met Council)

We had been doing 4-6 one day workshops annually before COVID, and have returned to offering a few each year.

The trainings have been held around the state in past years. Where should we host trainings over the next couple years?

• Applying local higher standards. Many counties, cities and watersheds have higher standards, and those local higher standards always apply over and above DNR or state/federal floodplain requirements. Higher local standards may include criteria for active erosion that warrants riprap and requiring vegetative buffers next to the riprap.
• Verifying that the DNR "no permit required" conditions are met. Local shoreland ordinances require, as a condition of land alteration permit approval, that any alterations or riprap below the OHWL must first be authorized by the DNR.
• Meet floodplain regulations. If the site is within a mapped floodway, a "No Rise" analysis is required to verify the flood elevations are not being increased more than 0.00 feet. In A Zones and AE Zones without a floodway an "allowable rise" analysis to show a rise of no more than 0.5 feet and no increase on existing structures is required for sites on watercourses or lake areas with flow. In all locations, verify the project doesn't increase flood damage potential on neighboring properties (doesn't push more water on the neighbor).
• Meet shoreland regulations. No removal of vegetation.

In the adjacent photo you can see many of the DNR conditions for not requiring a permit did not exist, including (but not limited to):

• Remnants of emergent vegetation mean they likely covered emergent vegetation
• The gentle slope means there was likely not a demonstrated need for riprap. If there had been erosion of the lawn, the better fix would have been to plant a natural vegetation buffer. And it's unlikely it followed the natural alignment of the shoreline
• Riprap is steeper than the maximum 3 foot horizontal to 1 foot vertical slope, and it appears filling was done behind the steeply sloped riprap 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a temporary partial waiver to the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) requirements on Feb. 20, 2025. This partial waiver removes the “at least two feet” language from 24 CFR § 200.926d(c)(4), effectively removing the requirement for the lowest floor of a building in a special flood hazard area (or lowest structural member of a building in a coastal high hazard area) to be elevated two feet above the base flood elevation. All other FFRMS requirements remain in place. The temporary waiver is effective for one year and can be read here . 

Note: Minnesota state regulations continue to require the lowest floor of buildings within a special flood hazard area to be elevated above the Regulatory Flood Protection Elevation, which is the base flood elevation plus one foot freeboard plus any stage increase.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) March 25, 2025 press release reported the agency had revoked implementation of the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS) effective March 25, 2025. 

The press release noted that "FFRMS Policy 206-24-005 required certain construction projects to adopt a strict standard that addressed flood risk." The policy required new construction and repairs/replacement of substantially damaged facilities (including culverts) be built in a more resilient way to avoid damage in the next flood. 

The FFRMS requirements applied to FEMA direct actions and grant-funded actions under Grant Programs Directorate (GPD), Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA), Individual Assistance (IA) and Public Assistance (PA) involving new construction, substantial improvement and repairs to address substantial damage.

The press release reminded us that the FFRMS has no effect on FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps and the National Flood Insurance Program mapping process. The FFRMS also did not affect National Flood Insurance Program premium rates or inform mandatory flood insurance purchase requirements.  

For more details see the full press release.

Have a tricky floodplain management situation? Want to get the latest timing for FEMA map updates? 

Talk with FEMA and DNR Floodplain Program representatives during monthly virtual Minnesota Floodplain Management Office Hours. Hours are 10-11 a.m., typically on the fourth Thursday of the month (but a few are adjusted to avoid holidays, etc.).

Upcoming monthly hours (Note: all are 10 - 11 a.m. Central Time)

• Thursday, May 15, 2025 (week earlier due to national floodplain conference)
• Thursday, June 26, 2025

Where: Teams. No registration is required. Select a date to see a Teams meeting and join us. 

These office hour dates and links are also available on the DNR Floodplain Training and Education page.