New FEMA map shrinks flood plain

Washington County Zoning Administrator Steve Lafaurie gave the Washington County Board of Supervisors an update on the new flood map for the county. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released the new map for Washington County?s flood plain in March, which reduces the size of the flood plain from FEMA?s earlier map in 2010.

When FEMA mapped Washington County in 2010, it employed new technology called LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). LiDAR uses light to measure the distance between two objects, such as the distance between the ground and a plane flying overhead. Lafaurie said that the 2010 map revealed that portions of Kalona were in the flood plain that were not included before.

?There were lots of new homes in some of that area,? he said.

Lafaurie said the location of the flood plain is significant because banks that finance home loans require homeowners to purchase flood insurance if their house is in the flood plain. He said that FEMA agreed to restudy the flood plain around Kalona, producing a new map it issued last month in which the flood plain is smaller than its 2010 map.

The 2010 map included in the flood plain a number of homes on the northwest edge of Kalona, northwest of the intersection of Highways 22 and 1. The re-study concluded that none of those homes are in the flood plain.

Structures built in the flood plain are susceptible to being damaged in a flood. Lafaurie said new structures can even alter the channel the water runs down and could, depending on the structures? size, cause flooding elsewhere because of the water they displace.

?It?s like squeezing a balloon,? Lafaurie said. ?The primary reason the flood plain matters has to do with the damage to the structures. If the owners don?t have insurance, they lose. If they are insured, the insurers lose. It?s generally not a good idea to build in the flood plain.?

When Lafaurie moved to Iowa, he asked a farmer where he should build his house, and the response was, ?up high.?

?We don?t have a major river through the county like the Mississippi River but we have the English River, Skunk River and Smith Creek,? he said. ?The English River has a pretty long watershed.?

Lafaurie also spoke about a recent meeting between representatives of the City of Washington and the county?s planning and zoning commission. The meeting was about the scope of its entity?s jurisdiction. Lafaurie said that the city has zoning jurisdiction within two miles of the city limits. However, for subdivisions built between the city limits and the two-mile zone, the city must submit the proposal to the county planning and zoning commission for comment before the city approves it.