BOARD00158

• Board Meeting Date: 12/12/1973
• Description: Agenda or Table of Contents, Minutes, Memos
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

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One of the problems with'the flood plain program is that as a result
of the interest in land use and land-use planning we have received
numerous requests from local entities to do flood plain studies in
their areas. Those requests are coming from areas that we never
anticipated a few years ago. They are coming from almost every segment
of the state to the point where we have so many requests that we can't
possibly get them done in any reasonable period of time.

Another problem with the flood plain studies is that in the past they
have been done by the Corps of Engineers. The Corps only has a
limited amount of funds that it can dedicate to these studies. We
have met with the Corps and with the various entities in the metro-
politan area to try to determine what could be done to speed up the
flood plain program.

In addition to the Corps, we have called on the Soil Conservation
Service in some cases, and in some cases, private consultants have
done flood plain studies, particularly in the Boulder area.

The legislature is contemplating a requirement that flood plain
studies be done as part of the land-use planning. I am sure that
will be incorporated into any land-use bill which is adopted. Right
now there is no specified requirement that they be done on a state
wide basis and we have been responding to requests of the local
authorities. In any event, this is a program which is certain to
magnify. We think that some definitive state policy must be adopted
as far as state financial contributions are concerned. What we are
proposing here is that in the delineation of flood plains that the
state contribute up to 50 percent of any required local cost for
completion of these studies. By and large, the local cost is less
than the amount of money which is spent by the Corps of Engineers.
For instance, let's say that the Corps spends $10,000 on a particular
study. Usually by adding $5,000 or some figure like that, we can
get the mapping done on a scale that is more readily usable for zoning
purposes. By augmenting the Corps' money we can extend the program
considerably. Instead of doing say four studies a year, maybe we
can do as high as ten or fifteen.

The purpose of this agenda item is to provide some state assistance
under a definitive policy. Again, we would propose that these
requests be submitted to the board sometime during the year and they
would be considered by the board at an annual meeting and a priority
schedule adopted. The General Assembly added to our last budget the
sum of $30,000 for this purpose, that we didn't request. We have
used that money to assist some of the municipalities. In the case of
Aspen, we insisted that they match whatever money that the state put up.

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