FLOOD10351

• County: Statewide
• Community: Statewide
• Title: Statewide River Rehabilitation & Flood Plain Management Needs Inventory
• Date: 12/1/1998
• Prepared For: State of Colorado Department of Natural Resources
• Prepared By: McLaughlin Water Engineers
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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· Generally, there is a lack of understanding of the importance of floodplain rules and regulations
and enforcement by local communities.
· Community officials and the public welcome multi-use approach in the management of the state's
stream corridors and floodplain areas.

REGIONAL ISSUES
· Communities located in the eastern "high plains" tend to perceive the threat of flooding differently
than communities located along a defined drainage, stream or river in the foothills and mountains.
· Communities located along major streams under the jurisdiction of federal and state regulations
expressed frustration in the process for getting some projects or map changes accomplished.
· Communities with federal agencies as their "partners" expressed frustration with the lack of
interest and cooperation in working together to solve problems.

LOCAL ISSUES
· A number of communities expressed the problem and difficulty of getting elected officials to
"buy-in" to floodplain regulation concepts.
· The turnover of local governing board members can result in the loss of priorities that had been
set for floodplain projects by previous boards and councils.
· Many communities in Colorado are experiencing significant growth. Associated with this fact is
the increase demand for basic data and flood hazard information for wise land use planning and
decision making.

RESPONDENTS' COMMENTS ABOUT THE SURVEY/QUESTIONNAIRE
· Comments by some respondents related to the "purpose" of the questionnaire. For example, some
thought it was a marketing effort by MWE instead of a mechanism to obtain information for CWCS
to develop a program for the Colorado legislature.
· The objective of the questionnaire was somewhat unclear to communities in eastern Colorado who
do not have major stream/floodplain problems. Instead they deal with street drainage and
localized flooding problems following rainstorms.
· Another survey! Don't have time to complete.
· Several "major players" representing communities who regularly deal with flooding and stormwater
issues did not respond in spite of several follow-up phone calls from MWE. No time was available
for this questionnaire due to large, demanding, daily-workloads.
· CWCS list of contacts including names, addresses and phone numbers was surprisingly out of
date. It appears the contact list was at least three years old, judging by the comments of those
who did respond. This type of Infonnatlon Is vital to staying In touch with local communities.
Some procedure should be established to keep this current.
· Several communities asked if they could receive a copy of the summary of the questionnaire
because they had an interest in this project and would like to assist to the extent possible.

Section IV - 3