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<br />Objection <br /> <br />"We're being blackmailed into joining this ftood insurance program with <br />threats of holding back mortgage money and disaster retief money; If we did <br />join they'd tel1 us what to do wilh our land." <br /> <br />Response <br />Every year 1 OO'year floods which cost money occur somewhere in <br />Colorado. The traditional pattern has been to spend public money on disas- <br />ter relief and on flood control facilities. E.very year those public expenditures <br />have increased. <br />The intent of the NFIP is to have those who stand to benefit most from <br />floodplain expenditures (those who own property and those who live in the <br />floodplain), pay part of the cost of recovery through insurance premiums, and <br />to reduce expenditures of public funds by decreasing the number of persons <br />and structures at risk in the floodplain through regulation. By withholding <br />Federally insured mortgage money and disaster relief funds to non- <br />participants, the Federal Government is attempting to stop the flood-rebuild- <br />flood cycle. <br />Although there are Federal requirements to follow in regulating floodplains <br />in communities in the NFIP, there is still a certain amount of freedom allowed <br />to land owners in the floodplain. Regulations and court cases related to them <br />have sought to find a balance between preventing public harm and promot- <br />ing private benefit. <br /> <br />Objection <br /> <br />"Al1 we need to do is build a dam and some levees and then we can develop <br />without having to worry about floods. Regulations make it hard for everyone." <br /> <br />Response <br />There are situations where flood control structures alone or in combination <br />with other floodplain management tools offer the best approach to floodplain <br />problems. Which times those are will be determined through engineering <br />analysis and the public decision process. <br />Frequently, it is difficult or impossible to obtain funding for flood control pro- <br />jects. Federal funding can take a long time to obtain. if it is ever obtained. <br />There may not be sufficient State or local funding available. A local con- <br />sideration will be who benefits from the project as opposed to who pays for it. <br />The decision must be made whether those who benefit will pay the majority <br />of the cost or whether they will be subsidized by other members of the com- <br />munity. If the project is properly designed and built, existing development will <br />be protected and future development will become more feasible. The com. <br />munity should be prepared to meet these funding hurdles and to pursue <br />careful design and construction if it considers this option. <br />Floods larger than the 1 OO-yearflood do occur, and development which <br />takes place after a project is built can face the risk of damage from floods <br />larger than those for which the project Was designed. A "false sense of <br />security" can lead to having additional people and property at risk after a <br />project is built. <br />More frequently than not, analysis has shown that regulations are a more <br />cost effective means of floodpiain management than flood control projects. <br />The situations where flood control projects are more cost effective are <br />usually those in which there is substantial existing development in the flood- <br />plain. In such situations regulations will not offer much protection from flood <br />hazard. <br /> <br />42 <br />