Volume 18 Issue 2                                                                                                  June 2019

• Do You Live Near Water?
• Is My Property Located In Or Near A Floodplain?
• Municipal Flood Control Grant Program
• Ordinary High Water Mark and Navigability Training Conducted
• TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
• CONTACT INFORMATION

Do You Live Near Water?

What is a Floodplain?

The non-technical and simplified definition of a floodplain is "an area adjacent to a body of water." But using this definition to determine if your property is in a floodplain is deceiving. You may find your house covered with water from the overflow of a river or stream five miles from your home. Floodplains have varying characteristics and may not be easily identified. Communities experiencing population growth and related development, can create a floodplain where none previously existed.

"Our experience leads us to advise the public that everyone lives in a floodplain," said Louis Botta, federal coordinating officer for FEMA. "Flooding can be brought on by rains, a failed dam or by a drainage system becoming clogged after heavy rains. Even if your property is not in a floodplain, citizens should prepare themselves by getting flood insurance."

Insurance for Floodplain Properties

FEMA statistics show that homes in a floodplain are 26 times more likely to incur damage from a flood than from a fire during a 30-year mortgage. If you want to obtain a mortgage for a property located in an existing, mapped, floodplain and the federal government backs the mortgage, you must purchase flood insurance. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides insurance to communities that adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances to reduce future flood damage.

Be aware:

• Homeowners' policies do not cover flood damages. 
• Flood insurance can be obtained for structures located OUTSIDE of the mapped floodplain.
• The time to purchase flood insurance is BEFORE a flood! There is a 30-day waiting period before new NFIP policies take effect. However, if you purchase NFIP flood insurance at the same time that you purchase a new home, the policy takes effect immediately.

How to get Flood Insurance

1. First, contact your insurance agent or company. The insurance agent who handles your homeowner’s or renter’s policy could be the same agent who would handle setting up your flood insurance policy.
2. If your agent cannot assist you, contact the main office of your insurance company to inquire about obtaining flood insurance.
3. If your insurance company cannot help you, call the FEMA National Flood Insurance line: 1-800-427-4661. Help is available in most languages. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can use the 711 relay system and ask to speak with someone in the NFIP Call Center.

Questions about your NFIP policy?

If you have a policy with NFIP Direct,

• Visit Information for policyholders.
• For help understanding a particular word or phrase used in your NFIP policy , visit NFIP definitions.
• Call 1-800-638-6620 if you need help.

Is My Property Located In Or Near A Floodplain?

The FEMA Flood Map Service Center (MSC) is the official public source for flood hazard information and was produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Use the MSC to find your official flood map, access a range of other flood hazard products, and take advantage of tools to better understand your flood risk.

First Step

At the MSC home page, you can either enter an address (or a city or county), or go directly to "Search All Products." (See more on the "Search All Products" option below.)

What You See Next Depends on Whether FEMA Maps Are Paper or Digital

FEMA floodplain maps issued since 2003 are digital, produced at the county level, and called Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMS). Most of Wisconsin’s maps are digital but some counties’ maps are only available on paper.

Older FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) are only available as paper maps, or digital scans of the map panels. The maps from the late 1990s or early 2000s may be countywide, but most older maps show cities and the unincorporated county areas separately.

Next Step with Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs)

New Features for DFIRM Counties

• Bigger interactive map shows flood zones and data on either aerial or road background.

• Data layers from FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL) are updated daily.
• "Dynamic Map" link — click on this to create a "FIRMette" (a miniature official copy of the FEMA map for the specified location).
• Legend greatly expanded.
• Previous link to NFHL viewer no longer available.

Retained Features

• Link to other flood data for that community.
• Can zoom in and out on the interactive map.

In the folders above the interactive map, there are copies of any revalidation letters, Letters of Map Amendments, etc., relevant to that map panel.

Sample of New FIRMette Produced with "Dynamic Map" Link

 New FIRMette Features

• Ability to locate "pin" on building or location of interest.
• Data layers from FEMA's NFHL.
• Letters of Map Revisions (LOMRs) are incorporated on day they are effective.
• Uses aerial background and NFHL layers that have colors and formatting most find easier to interpret.
• Expanded legend.

Features Retained from the Original FIRMettes (that are still used for paper maps)

• Official copy of FEMA floodplain map that can be printed or saved as a pdf.
• Scale is the same as the official FEMA map panel (and cannot be changed).

Next Step for Paper Map Counties

For paper map counties, the MSC site is virtually unchanged.

• The interactive map is a bit bigger, and the default background is now the aerial, with a toggle to the roads background.
• The same links are available to download a scan of that panel or to view map panels and create FIRMettes. The feature to create paper map FIRMettes is essentially unchanged since it was first introduced in 2002.

There is a link to "Show All Products."

Data at "Show All Products" or "Search All Products" Links

Data available after clicking  "Show All Products" includes current effective, historical, preliminary, and pending (effective within months) panels, Flood Insurance Studies (FIS), and Letters of Map Changes. (LOMCs).

In DFIRM counties, the NFHL data (shape files) are available for that county and statewide.

The "Search All Products" link from the MSC home page takes you to search options. You can search for products in a community or county and get a similar search result as that shown above for the City of Madison, or search for specific products (i.e., if you know a Letter of Map Amendment case number).

Terms and Definitions

• Letters of Map Change (LOMCs) include all the types of map changes, including: LOMAs, LOMR-Fs, LOMRs, etc.
• Letters of Map Amendment (LOMAs) are issued when a structure is shown in the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) but more accurate elevation data show the lowest natural ground touching the structure (i.e., the lowest adjacent grade) is actually higher than the Base Flood Elevation (the "100-year flood elevation"). LOMAs are for individual or multiple lots. Note: the SFHA is the 1% annual chance ("100-year flood") floodplain.
• Letters of Map Revision based on Fill (LOMR-F-s) involve filling to get the lowest floor and lowest adjacent grade above the base flood elevation.
• Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs) are issued for larger changes to the maps.
• Revalidation Letters are sent to the chief elected officials just before new maps become effective. The letter lists the LOMAs, LOMR-Fs, etc., that were issued in the past, and that are still valid on the new maps. These cases are automatically "revalidated" the day after the new map dates, and those landowners do NOT need to apply.

For More Information

FEMA Flood Map Service Center: https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home

DNR Floodplain Mapping Web Page: https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/FloodPlains/mapping.html

Municipal Flood Control Grant Program

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources provides Municipal Flood Control (MFC) grants to help cities, villages, towns, tribal government and metropolitan sewerage districts minimize flooding and flood-related damages.

The MFC grants are available to help minimize flooding and flood-related damages. Grantees can use the funds to acquire property and to remove buildings in the flood-way and floodplain to ensure flood waters flow properly to the water body. The grants are also used to acquire vacant land and flowage easements in the flood-way or floodplain to facilitate proper flowage. Additionally, the grants assist with costs associated with flood-proofing and flood elevation of structures within the 100-year floodplain both on public and private lands. The grants help to create open-space flood storage areas by constructing flood control detention structures, thus restoring the flood-carrying capacity and natural beneficial functions of watercourses.

The next grant cycle will open in October 2019 with applications due in March 2020. This program runs every other fiscal year. MFC provides 50% of the cost of the project and the matching 50% comes from the grantee but can be obtained from other sources. The grantee cannot use other state funds for the matching amount. The maximum amount an eligible grantee can receive is 20% of the total available funds. For the 2018 grant period, 20% was $480,000 per grant. In the last biennium budget, MFC received $1.85 million in grant funds.

The DNR awards these grants for the following eligible project types, ranked 1 (high) through 9 (low) in terms of funding priority:

1. Acquisition and removal of structures, which due to zoning restrictions cannot be rebuilt or repaired.
2. Acquisition and removal of structures in the 100-year floodplain.
3. Acquisition and removal of repetitive-loss or substantially damaged structures.
4. Acquisition and removal of other flood-damaged structures.
5. Floodproofing and elevation of structures.
6. Riparian restoration projects, including removal of dams and other artificial obstructions, restoration of fish and native plant habitat, and erosion control and streambank restoration projects.
7. Acquisition of vacant land or perpetual conservation or flowage easements to provide additional flood storage or to facilitate natural or more efficient flood flows.
8. Construction of structures for the collection, detention, retention, storage, and transmission of stormwater and groundwater for flood control and riparian restoration projects.
9. Preparation of flood insurance studies and other flood mapping projects.

The DNR issued the following awards for the 2018 grant cycle:

For more information contact:

                Elisabeth (Lis) Kuisis, CF/2 Grants                              Michelle Staff, WT/3 Watershed

                Phone: (608) 267-5129                                                   Phone: (608) 266-3093

E-mail: Elisabeth.Kuisis@wisconsin.gov                        E-mail: Michelle.Staff@Wisconsin.gov               

Go online to learn more:

• https://dnr.wi.gov/aid/munfloodcontrol.html
• Legislative Fiscal Bureau Information Paper #69 - January 2019   

Ordinary High Water Mark and Navigability Training Conducted

The Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with The Wisconsin County Code Administrators recently conducted ordinary high water mark and navigability training in Vilas and Green Lake counties.  The training was well attended and included a classroom and field component.  The sessions were recorded to create a training module that will be shared with all counties. For more information contact Kay Lutze at (920) 360-0472 or  Kay.Lutze@wisconsin.gov.

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

SAVE THE DATE!!!! We are pleased to announce the 17th Annual WAFSCM Conference - 2019    October 23rd - 25th, 2019 Central WI Convention & Expo Center 10101 Market St., Rothschild, WI Details on registration, sponsorships, speakers and award submittals, scholarships and conference content will be posted to the WAFSCM website.  We plan to fill 3 tracks for breakout sessions – one each for stormwater, floodplains, and coastal projects/issues. Plan your abstract submittals – a request will be sent soon! Schedule: Wednesday 10/23: Workshops and Networking Thursday 10/24:  Main Conference Day (plenary and breakout sessions) Friday 10/25: Morning Field Tour We will host the CFM exam this year! Contact one of the Conference Co-Chairs: Laura Rozumalski at lrozumalski@freshwatereng.com or Megan Bender at megan.bender@jacobs.com for more information. Additional information on opportunities to sponsor and/or exhibit at the conference will be sent in June. If you would like to reserve an exhibitor or sponsor spot now or have questions about sponsoring or exhibiting at the conference, please contact Heather Schwar at heather.schwar@cardno.com. WAFSCM greatly appreciates your support and we are looking forward to your participation in our conference. .

CONTACT INFORMATION

Find Your Dam Safety/Floodplain Engineer

"Floodplain and Shoreland Management Notes" is published by the WDNR, Bureau of Watershed Management. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform local zoning officials and others concerned about state and federal floodplain management, flood insurance, shoreland and wetland management, and dam safety issues. Comments or contributions are welcome. Please send comments to DNRFloodplain@Wisconsin.gov.

This newsletter is supported by funding through the FEMA Cooperative Agreement EMC-2018-CA-00015 as part of the Community Assistance Program-State Support Services Element of the National Flood Insurance Program. The contents do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the federal government.