Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06022009 - SD.8RECOMMENDATION(S): ACCEPT report on the floodplain impacts on unincorporated County areas resulting from FEMA remapping and levee accreditation efforts, and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director to take necessary actions to minimize impacts on the County. FISCAL IMPACT: No fiscal impact to the general fund. BACKGROUND: I. Executive Summary The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in the process of publishing new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM) that are expected to result in additional parcels being added to designated special flood hazard areas (FEMA floodplain). With future detailed FEMA studies on the horizon, floodplains are expected to further expand. The Public Works Department and Flood Control District has taken steps to mitigate this APPROVE OTHER RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE Action of Board On: 06/02/2009 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Clerks Notes: VOTE OF SUPERVISORS AYE:John Gioia, District I Supervisor Gayle B. Uilkema, District II Supervisor Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor Susan A. Bonilla, District IV Supervisor Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor Contact: Rich Lierly, (925) 313-2348 I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown. ATTESTED: June 2, 2009 David J. Twa, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors By: June McHuen, Deputy cc: SD. 8 To:Board of Supervisors From:Transportation, Water and Infrastructure Comm Date:June 2, 2009 Contra Costa County Subject:Floodplain Impacts on Unincorporated County Areas Resulting From FEMA Remapping and Levee Accreditation Efforts situation to ensure that the County continues to enjoy the economic BACKGROUND: (CONT'D) benefit of the flood protection existing today and that the FEMA floodplain maps are as accurate as possible. However, the County’s and District’s efforts are likely to be unsuccessful in the short term. II. Project Background The County has two major issues with FEMA’s conversion of their Flood Insurance Rate Maps into a Digital format (DFIRMs). The first deals with mapping inaccuracies and affects many areas throughout Contra Costa County (approximately 1,000 properties in unincorporated county communities). The second issue deals with levee certification/decertification and primarily affects the North Richmond community (currently approximately 250 properties in unincorporated County). MAPPING INACCURACIES: The county public works department has been working with FEMA for the past several years to insure the new DFIRM maps are as accurate as possible. Up until early 2009 the maps that FEMA supplied for staff review were in a paper format and at a very large scale. FEMA was able to address all the comments we had on those maps to our satisfaction. After the official review period had expired, FEMA provided the DFIRM maps to us in a Digital format. This enabled us to load the DFIRM data onto our GIS system and review the maps with much more accuracy (detail). For the first time, this allowed us to review the maps at a parcel level. With this additional detail it became apparent that much of the DFIRM information was inaccurate. In many cases Floodplain boundaries had been shifted by almost 100 feet from their formerly mapped location and for no apparent reason. These shifts in floodplains have resulted in many properties being added to the floodplain in error. We are continuing to work with FEMA to address these issues. However, based on the experiences of other communities with FEMA, we believe the necessary corrections will not be made before the DFIRMs become official on June 16, 2009. NORTH RICHMOND (SAN PABLO AND WILDCAT CREEK) LEVEE CERTIFICATION: The North Richmond community is built on the low-lying floodplains of Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks. The community has historically suffered from damaging flooding until the completion of a flood control project on both creeks in 1993 by the Contra Costa County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (District) in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks Project (Project) was the result of a multi-year, community-based planning effort that culminated in channel widening, levee construction and habitat restoration on both creeks. The District has maintenance responsibility for the completed Project. The community strongly supports the riparian vegetation and habitat that was created with the Project and the active Wildcat/San Pablo Creeks Watershed Council advises the District on maintenance practices in the creek. Before the Project, nearly all of North Richmond was included in FEMA’s 100-year floodplain and property owners were required to purchase flood insurance annually. Upon completion of the Project, FEMA removed all North Richmond parcels from the 100-year floodplain. Since completion of the Project, both creeks have steadily lost flood carrying capacity. The loss of flood capacity has been most pronounced in Wildcat Creek due to sediment deposition and the additional vegetation that has grown in the creek. An effort by the Corps in 1999 to re-engineer the creek to allow this additional vegetation (the Wildcat Creek 1135 Project) remains stalled due to lack of federal funding. Unfortunately, Flood Control Zone 6 (FCZ6)-San Pablo Creek--has no established revenue source for maintenance and Flood Control Zone 7 (FCZ7)—Wildcat Creek—receives limited property tax revenue that is only sufficient to perform periodic maintenance of its sediment basin. III. Current Problems Inaccurate Mapping: Advanced mapping technology, including digital maps and GIS, allow a user to “zoom in” on smaller and smaller areas providing ever increasing detail. In the case of the DFIRM maps the level of detail associated with the floodplain studies does not support this advanced mapping format. As a result, FEMA has produced very detailed mapping of very inaccurate and approximate (non- studied) floodplains. In addition FEMA did their mapping work on very large scale paper maps and did not use GIS capabilities to correctly proof their work. FEMA (and County staff) was not aware of these problems until after the mapping review period had expired. Since we became aware of these issues, the County has been working with FEMA to resolve these mapping errors as soon as possible. However, it is likely the errors will not be corrected until after the maps become effective and FEMA has been unwilling to delay the effective date. Levee Decertification: After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused devastating flooding along the Gulf Coast, including the city of New Orleans, the Federal response to flood protection changed dramatically. FEMA embarked on a program to produce computer based digital versions of its paper based Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM), so called DFIRMs. At the same time, FEMA tightened its regulations and required local agencies to prove the worthiness of flood protection infrastructure, such as levees, shown of the FIRMs. FEMA recognized that the levee certification process would be costly and time consuming and, in most cases, would not be completed by local agencies prior to publication of the DFIRMS. Therefore, FEMA provided for the Provisional Accreditation of Levees, or PAL program. The PAL program allows local jurisdictions to test, analyze, and certify their levees meet FEMA’s standards and, in the interim, provides a special PAL designation of the areas protected by the levees on the DFIRMs. Locally, levee owners in Contra Costa County have been given until July 24, 2009, to certify their levees. After that date, FEMA will assume uncertified levees provide no flood protection and will remove the special PAL designation on the DFIRMs thereby placing properties in a flood zone. The District and the City of Richmond applied for the PAL program for the levees along San Pablo and Wildcat creeks. The District estimates that the analysis and testing of the levees on Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks to certify compliance with FEMA standards will cost approximately $550,000. Any deficiencies that may be uncovered during the PAL analysis will need to be corrected at significant additional cost before the levees can be re-certified and continue to be accredited as providing protection from the 100 year flood event. Due to the poor financial condition of FCZ6 and FCZ7, the District applied to the State of California, Department of Water Resources, for funding under the Local Levee Evaluation (LOLE) grant program. The requested grant amount of nearly $500,000 will have a 10% local match requirement (approximately $50,000). This is an excellent leverage of local matching funds. The application was favorably received, but the funding was frozen in December pending resolution of the State’s budget crisis. Award of the grant is expected in September 2009, pending new State bond sales to fund the program. The District has provided FEMA with periodic updates regarding the status of the State’s LOLE program. However, FEMA has so far been unwilling to relax the PAL deadline. It is almost certain the District will be unable to certify the levees along Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks prior to the FEMA deadline. Therefore, properties shown within the PAL designated area on the North Richmond Flood Hazard map (Exhibit A) will be located in a flood hazard area after July 24, 2009, and property owners may be required to carry flood insurance by their lenders. IV. Upcoming Problems regarding levee de-certifications in the North Richmond area There are a number of circumstances on the horizon that may serve to worsen the current problem. Freeboard FEMA’s current digital mapping effort uses existing data scanned from paper documents to produce DFIRMs. The resulting DFIRMs are no more accurate than the existing maps. FEMA is expected to undertake a more detailed study of the North Richmond area in the near future using their new standards that differ from those used by the Corps for design of the channel. For example, the Corps required three feet of freeboard along levees. “Freeboard” is a safety factor and represents the distance from the water surface to the “Freeboard” is a safety factor and represents the distance from the water surface to the top of the levee. FEMA’s new requirement is for three and one half feet of freeboard at and upstream of bridges. Levees adjacent to the bridges crossing both creeks, such as the Richmond Parkway bridges, are expected to fail this test without additional modification. In addition, the bridges themselves may need to be altered to comply with the FEMA criteria. If the levees and bridges do not meet the more stringent FEMA standards, FEMA will assume they are not present and will enlarge the floodplain accordingly. This would add more properties to the flood zone. Protective Embankments When the Corps designed the improvements on Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks, they correctly assumed that the existing railroad track embankments, crossing the floodplains to the east, served to hold back the flood flows from upstream. FEMA’s standards will not allow this assumption without certification of the railroad embankments as levees. It is infeasible to plan for flood protection from the railroad facilities given the complexities of the liability and maintenance responsibility issues to be resolved. Therefore, FEMA can be expected to designate most of North Richmond as a flood hazard area in the future. Settlement The levees along Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks were constructed on soft bay mud and some settlement is expected. While the levees are generally in good shape, they are probably at a slightly lower elevation than when they were constructed. The levees will have to be restored to their designed top elevation and width. This work will be costly and a source of funding is uncertain. Standards Since hurricane Katrina, both the Corps and FEMA have become much more strict regarding levee maintenance and construction. The community-based design process used for the Wildcat and San Pablo channels project resulted in a compromise plan that was supported by the community and the Corps of Engineers, but it deviated from traditional Corps and FEMA standards. For instance, the federal levee standards call for a 15-foot clear space on the land side of the levee for flood fighting and inspection and allow no vegetation on levees except closely mowed grass. Some of the levees on Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks lack the clear space on the land side of the levee and in fact include trees and other vegetation, especially on the south bank levee face. Strict compliance with FEMA maintenance criteria may require the removal of established trees and other vegetation. It will be extremely difficult and expensive to obtain regulatory permits for the removal of riparian vegetation. Maintenance Funding The two watersheds lack an adequate funding stream. Additionally, regulatory permission to do normal vegetation maintenance is difficult to secure. These conditions have resulted in significant vegetation growth that limits the amount of stormwater that can pass. Once FEMA completes the detailed restudy, this will likely result in a larger FEMA floodplain. While all the above issues pertain to Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks, most or all of these issues also pertain to many other creeks in the County such as Pinole, Rodeo, and Rheem. V. County / FC District Response In response to these challenges, the County and District have taken the following steps: Provided technical data for and review comments on FEMA’s digital maps to eliminate errors and clarify inconsistencies. We are working with FEMA to file Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs) to correct the inconsistencies/inaccuracies in the DFIRMs. This process is moving forward but will likely not be completed before the DFIRMs become official. Notify all affected property owners that their property is going to be added into a FEMA designated Floodplain and as a result Floodplain insurance will likely become a requirement. Also encouraged the property owners to pre-buy the flood insurance thereby taking advantage of a FEMA “grandfathering” provision and potentially saving the property owners many thousands of dollars (in flood insurance premiums) for many years to come flood insurance is only required for structures not land and the portion of most parcels added to the floodplain is small without structures. For notification purposes the original list of approximately 1,000 properties added to the floodplain has been reduced to approximately 300 properties (those with structures). (Attachment B and C) Applied for (and obtained) provisional accreditation status from FEMA for the levees along Wildcat and San Pablo Creeks. These levees are shown on the attached map. The deadline for certification of the levees is July 24, 2009. Developed a schedule to meet FEMA’s July 2009 PAL deadline, predicated on receipt of grant funding from the State by December 31, 2008. Developed a detailed scope of work for certification of the levees. Solicited proposals from a number of geotechnical engineering firms. Ranked and selected a winning proposal from a local geotechnical engineering firm. Provided FEMA with periodic updates regarding the status of the State’s LOLE program. Issued a letter to FEMA on DFIRM inaccuracies (Attachment D) Issued and a letter to FEMA requesting an extension of the PAL deadline to accommodate the delay in the State’s local levee assistance grant program (Attachment E). VI. Next Steps Since FEMA will remove the flood hazard area designation from properties behind levees once certification is provided, the District will continue to pursue funding for levee assessment and accreditation and for any required structural modifications or alterations with LOLE grants and from other sources. The County is continuing to work with FEMA to produce DFIRMs that show floodplains more closely coincident with the floodplains represented on the paper based FIRMs. CLERK'S ADDENDUM Supervisor Gioia noted his concern that the outreach letter drafted for residents be as clear and free of bureaucratic language as possible and suggested it reflect the County’s disagreement with the FEMA actions.. He requested an opportunity to review the letter to affected residents before mailing and requested a concise one-page summary be created. The Board commended staff on their proactive approach to keeping residents informed and assist them in saving expense in these difficult economic times. Staff will return to update the Board on developments on this issues. By unanimous vote with all Supervisors present, the Board adopted the recommendations as presented. ATTACHMENTS parcels added to floodplain North Richmond map Memo to TWIC Letter to property owners 2nd letter to FEMA director 1st letter to FEMA director