Laserfiche WebLink
<br />(Scenario I), (2) regulating the 100-year floodplain in a manner <br />similar to the current minimum requirements of the National Flood <br />Insurance Program (Scenario II), and (3) forbidding new develop- <br />ment and substantial improvements in the 100-year floodplain and <br />"correcting" past land use decisions which interfere with the na- <br />tural functions of the floodplain by removing unwarranted struc- <br />tures (Scenario III). <br /> <br />A further difference between Scenarios II and III is that <br />Scenario II allows vertical adjustments of development (by eleva- <br />tion or flood proofing to the regulatory level) or a horizontal <br />shift of development out o~ the 100-year floodplain. Scenario III <br />on the other hand, permits only horizontal adjustment, prevent- <br />ing further development within the 100-year floodplain. This ex- <br />tends to both new construction and any proposed substantial im- <br />provements. Therefore, Scenario III may not be deemed to be <br />a reasonably viable option, just as Scenario I (no regulations) is <br />normally not. However, from a research perspective it is desir- <br />able to cover the extreme range of theoretical regulatory options. <br /> <br />To avoid obscuring the effects of a particular scenario, <br />variations in regulations among local governments were not con- <br />sidered. This eliminates the ability of communities to compete <br />with respect to the stringency of regulations. Each scenario <br />, <br />was assumed to be applied uniformly throughout the nation. All <br />regulations were assumed to be properly administered and enforced. <br />The differences between the evaluated effects for the three regu- <br />latory scenarios for the case study communities are presented in <br />Table 2. To facilitate comparisons, both amounts and percentages <br />of change from 1975 to 1980 and 1990 are presented. <br /> <br />Economic Effects <br /> <br />When no regulations are applied (Scenario I), average annual <br />flood losses increase sharply. It is projected that flood losses <br /> <br />-11- <br />