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<br />IMPROVING EFFECTIVENESS OF FLOOD MAPS <br /> <br />Flood Insurance Rate Maps, produced and distributed by the Federal Emergency Management <br />Agency in conjunction with the National Flood Insurance Program, are critical to the management <br />and planning of floodplains, They serve as a key planning tool for communities and states by <br />demarcating areas subject to flooding, indicating depth and velocity of the flood hazard for floodplain <br />regulations, and identifYing flood insurance rates to be charged. However, to improve their utility and <br />effectiveness, several changes should be considered, and are identified and discussed in depth in the <br />Federal Emergency Management Agency's Mapping Modernization Plan. <br /> <br />· The Federal Emergency Management Agency should work with the Administration and Congress <br />to obtain funding for its map modernization initiatives and continue its Mapping Modernization <br />Plan, <br /> <br />Thousands of stream miles across the country require restudy, and others have never been mapped, <br />At present, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's sole source of revenue for these efforts <br />has been the National Flood Insurance Fund (non-tax dollars), As a point of equity, although the <br />insureds are the significant beneficiaries of these products, society as a whole has also benefited from <br />them, <br /> <br />· Additional funding for map programs is cruciaL <br /> <br />. The Technical Mapping Advisory Council should continue to provide guidance on implementation <br />of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Mapping Modernization Plan. Consideration <br />should be given to using future development conditions for hydrologic and hydraulic calculations <br />to determine flood elevations; setting up a process to map developing areas quickly; requiring <br />developers to perform the necessary engineering studies for large developments; and identifYing <br />other hazard areas on the flood maps. <br /> <br />· States that are qualified to perform and administer floodplain mapping programs should <br />administer and manage them for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under its <br />Cooperating Technical Communities Program, This will develop skills and program presence in <br />the states, and also serve as a magnet to develop other sources of revenue for floodplain mapping. <br /> <br />· We must find clearer ways to communicate flood risk so that it is meaningful to citizens and <br />communities, thus enabling them to take appropriate steps to reduce risk and damage. The <br />confusing terminology "IOO-year floodplain" should be abandoned in favor oflanguage that is <br />more understandable to the layperson. The ASFPM suggests using "1% chance flood." As an <br />alternative, the broader terms "high-risk flood" could be used for the 100-year flood and <br />"moderate-risk flood" when referring to the 500-year (or 0,2% chance) event. <br /> <br />· No matter what their location, structures for which a certain number of flood damage claims have <br />been paid (perhaps two claims) should be mapped and insured as floodplain properties, <br /> <br />Association of State Floodplain Managers <br /> <br />-24- <br /> <br />National Flood Programs in Review 2000 <br />