New map shows smaller flood plain
After years of appeals from property owners, a complex and repeatedly delayed study and thousands in insurance costs paid begrudgingly by a group of Spokane Valley residents, the invisible boundaries of the Chester Creek flood plain appear to be getting smaller.
“This is a rare study from FEMA’s perspective,” Federal Emergency Management Agency representative Ryan Ike said at a public meeting on a new flood-plain map Wednesday.
The highly technical geologic and hydrologic study generates so much interest because it will determine which buildings in the south Valley are included in Chester Creek’s 100-year flood plain. Lenders require buildings within that area to carry flood insurance – the thinking being that they have a 26 percent chance of flooding at some point during a 30-year mortgage. Ike said the average cost of the insurance for residences in Spokane County is about $630 per year, although some in the meeting said they were paying much higher rates.
“Out here we do have some promising results that are going to affect insurance,” he said.
The council chambers was packed with interested homeowners, and a cursory glance around the room also showed four Spokane Valley City Council members, three members of the Planning Commission and a county commissioner in attendance.
The map on display, last redrawn in 1992, now lists peak flows through Chester Creek at a fraction of the original assumption. The elevations in the basin also were updated to use more current data instead of measurements taken in 1929. New research takes into account more of the soil characteristics that affect how quickly water is absorbed into the ground. Assumptions about floodwaters also changed to accommodate pits, trenches and other manmade structures not considered in the old study.
“We extensively revised and improved that model,” said Tom Grindeland, an engineer with West Consultants.
The end result is a draft map that excludes many of the households that had been paying insurance and also adds a few new ones.
About a dozen people commented or asked questions at the meeting, most of them property owners still in the flood plain according to the draft map. Several sought assurances that construction in the area wouldn’t change the watershed. Others had questions about technical details in the study that could affect how high the water is estimated to rise in the event of a flood. One disputed the comparative elevations of two areas on the map and said it was unfair that homeowners must hire an engineer and file an appeal to prove something they believe they can see when they walk by.
In the coming weeks, a 90-day appeal period will begin in which people can challenge specific elements the map. After appeals are resolved, there will be a 30-day comment period before the map is finalized and incorporated into local regulations by cities and the county. At any time, landowners can appeal to FEMA two different ways to have their property exempted from flood-plain insurance if they can prove their structures are not at risk. At least 42 homeowners won individual appeals to the last map.
The new map could affect insurance starting about a year from now or longer if there are appeals, Ike said.
A small group of property owners in the area have worked to get FEMA to take another look at the area since the early ‘90s. And while they say they aren’t satisfied with all the changes, they consider it much more accurate.
“You win some and you lose some, but we won quite a bit on this one,” said resident and business owner Dick Behm who initiated the process to redraw the map.