FLOOD02514

• County: Statewide
• Community: Nationwide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Design Guidelines for Flood Damage Reduction
• Date: 10/1/1981
• Prepared By: FEMA
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Educational/Technical/Reference Information

. I~surance
requlremsr>ts

. Floodpl8l~
ma~agemer>l
gu>del;nes
. Land-use plan~ing
restrictions

1be design process must in-
elude analysis of floodp-
lain regulatory informa-
tion and flood hazard
data.

32

The development process involves a wide range of
decisions that directly influence the subsequent design
of any project. The designer's role in making these deci-
sions varies according to the nature of any given project,
but generally centers on project analysis and evaluation.
This phase culminates in the design program, which
identifies problems and issues and sets out the require-
ments and criteria that will guide the generation of ap-
propriate design responses. It is essential that analysis of
flooding issues be part of this pre-design phase.
As with any aspect of a design problem, the starting
point in analyzing the potential effects of flooding on a
project is the collection and analysis of pertinent data.
This research adds the necessary technical information
to the client's initial program of needs and resources,
thus making the connection between the individual site
and the larger context of natural systems and the exist-
ing built environment.
Project analysis first requires knowledge of what
data to collect, why it is important, and where it can be
obtained. Analysis should identify the interaction of
components in the natural and built environments and
the relationship of these components to design of the
proposed project.
The following sections identify the data relevant to
flood damage reduction, outline the importance of the
data, and review potential data sources. Pertinent data is
categorized first according to the variety of flood-related
regulatory programs and then according to specific
flood hazard data.

Regulatory Information

A number of local, state, and federal requirements apply
to development in flood-prone areas, foremost of which
are a variety of programs for floodplain management.
Part of the pre-design collection and analysis of informa-
tion should include identification of these regulatory
requirements and assessment of their constraints and
opportunities.

National Flood Insurance Program
A primary impetus for mitigating flood damage comes
from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP),
which was established by Congress in 1968 to reduce the
losses associated with flood damage. Administered by the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), this pro-
gram's primary component is a stipulation that flood in-
surance is available only in communities that have satis-
fied federal requirements for floodplain management.
This stipulation serves as an incentive to local govern-
ments to undertake appropriate planning measures to