BOARD01648

• Board Meeting Date: 7/20/2004
• Description: CWCB Director's Report
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

New Law Addresses Repetitive Flooding Losses: The U.S. House of Representatives has passed
legislation to crack down on property owners who make repeated flood damage claims that sometimes
far outstrip the value of the property. The change would force repeat claimants to accept flood
mitigation efforts, move or face siguificantly higher premiums.

These repetitive-loss properties are defined as those with at least two claims of more than $1,000 over
the deductible within 10 years. Until this legislation was passed, there was no premium increase on
flooded properties, regardless of the number of past claims made. Under the new initiative, budgeted
at $40 million, landowners would be offered assistance in elevation, relocation, flood proofmg or

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first time, and another 50 percent for every future claim exceeding $1,500 until reaching the actuarial
rate for the property. There are currently 47 repetitive loss properties in Colorado.

In a separate move, the House voted by voice to extend the life of the National Flood Insurance
Program until September 2008. The Senate has also voted to extend the Program.

Water Information Meeting: The Western States Water Council's 1 Oth Water Information
Management Systems (WIMS) Workshop will be held October 18-20, at the Sun Valley Resort in
Idaho. More information and a registration form can be found by visiting
www.westlZov.orwwswc/meetings.

GAO says Better Coordination Needed on Watershed Information: The GAO has released a new
report (GAO-04-382), "Watershed Management: Better Coordination of Data Collection Efforts
Needed to Support Key Decisions."

To prepare the report, GAO met with federal, state and local agencies, national organizations and other

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entities involved in data collection, geographic diversity and their experience in coordinating water
data

GAO found that at least fifteen federal agencies collect a wide variety of water quality data and that
states also playa key role in water quality data collection to fulfill their responsibilities under the
Clean Water Act. In addition, numerous local watershed groups, volunteer monitoring gronps,
industries, and academic groups collect water quality data.

With some notable exceptions, the report found, .....officials in almost all of the federal and state
agencies contacted said that coordination of water quality data was falling short of its potential." Key
barriers to better coordination of water quality data include: (1) significant differences in the purpose
for which groups collect data; (2) inconsistent data collection protocols; (3) a lack of awareness as to
which entities collect what types of data; and (4) a low priority given to coordination efforts,
demonstrated by a lack of support for councils that promote improved coordination.

GAO has recommended that the Congress consider "formally designating a lead organization" in order
to enhance and clearly define authority for coordinating the collection of water data nationwide." This
organization would: (1) support the development and continued operation of regional and state
monitoring councils; (2) coordinate the development of an Internet-based clearinghouse to convey
what entities are collecting what types of data; and (3) coordinate the development of clear guidance
on metadata standards so that data users can integrate data from various sources.

The full report is available online at httD://www.gao.gov/cGJ-binlgetrot?GAO-04-382 .

Catskill-Trout Unlimited v. City of New York: On June 21, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, New Mexico,
North Dakota and Utah filed an amicus brief asked the Second Circuit to reverse a 2003 district court
decision in Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited v. City of New York that assessed nearly

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