FLOOD07020

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: Flood Hazard Mitigation Plan for Colorado
• Date: 2/1/1998
• Prepared For: CWCB
• Prepared By: Kistner and Associates
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Mitigation/Flood Warning/Watershed Restoration

1998. Colorado Flood Haard Mitigation Pmn (409)

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ogy Site. The EMP coordinates and presents the
overall issues, objectives, approaches, and proce-
dures for the transportation of transuranic (TRU)
waste through Colorado to the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant (WIPP Site) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. TRU
Waste is waste products (such as paper, metal, plastic
or glass) radiologically contaminated with materials
heavier than uranium on the periodical chart

3.2.1.7 Department of Personnel
(General Support Services)

The primary involvement of the Department of Admin-
istration in floodplain management is in the review of
proposed construction of new state buildings, the
leasing of office space for state agencies, and the
provision of insurance for state buildings and property.

The stale Buildings Division, Capital Construction and
Control Maintenance Section must approve plans for
any new state building. All of those plans are referred
to the stale Geological Survey to determine whether
certain geologic hazards are a concern. Flooding
issues are referred to the Colorado Water Conserva-
tion Board. As an example, the location of a Highway
Department building near AJamosa was changed to
avoid flooding problems.

Renting or leasing of offICe space for state agencies
must have approval by the department For example,
a proposed location for a vending operation for the
blind, operated by the (then) Department of Social
Services, was rejected because it was in the South
Platte River floodplain. stale agencies must now
indicate whether .the proposed facility will be in a
floodplain or not Floodplain considerations may be
cause to reject a proposed location. In the past, the
Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Colorado
Geological Survey have reviewed a list of locations of
proposed state leases to identify potential flood prob-
lems.

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Flood insurance has been purchased for some state
buildings, but a complete list of state buildings for
which flood insurance has been purchased is not
available. Several years ago. the Colorado Water
Conservation Board provided the department with in-
formation on which state buildings were located in
floodplains, and some state agencies were advised to
obtain flood insurance where necessary. Several
agencies chose not to insure some buildings because
of budgetary constraints.

The Division of Accounts and Controls can provide
emergency assistance to state agencies in the event of
flood damage to their buildings. The three general
options for state agencies thai suffer flood damage
are:

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(1) Obtain emergency funding from Accounts and

Controls. For uninsured losses, and losses not
covered due to a deductible amount of
$100,000 for state policies, the division can
allocate up to $100,000 for repairs, per incident.

(2) Ask the governor to declare a disaster and
allocate some of his disaster funds; or

(3) Wait for a supplemental appropriation from the
legislature.

For any of these options, the stale Buildings Division
would be involved in the review of the proposed
repairs. Also, other agencies such as the Geological
Survey would be involved as appropriate. Funding
would depend, in part, on approval by the stale Build-
ings Division.

An example of a flood damaged facility that was
repaired with funds from the division is a building used
by Pueblo Vocational Community College in Pueblo.

3.2.1,8 Department of Institutions

The Department of Institutions manages various facili-
ties including several youth camps, schools, detention
centers, .the Fort Logan Mental Health Center, the
Colorado stale Hospital, and three state Homes and
Training Schools for the developmentally disabled. In
addition, the department contracts with local agencies
to provide services for their particular community.

A review by the CWCB showed that none of the
department's facilities appear to be exposed to any
significant flood hazard. The Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment is involved in the
annual licensing of these facilities and they also c0n-
sider floodplain information'in licensing the facilities.

The Department of Institutions, through the locally
operated mental health centers, provides counseling
services to survivors in disaster struck areas. As an
example, the Adams County Mental health Center
provided such services to victims of the Thornton
tornado in June 1981. The department coordinates
the work of the local agencies in this area and provides
counselors to serve victims of flooding suffering emo-
tional and other mental health problems.

3.2,1.9 Department of Education

The Department of Education provides input to 181
local school boards on the location of their facilities,
including advice on protecting them from flood haz-
ards.

School districts finance construction and improvement
of facilities entirely with locally raised money. The
districts have a lot of power to make decisions on their
own. In addition, they are exempt from county land
use requirements other than building codes. The
result is that there is little control over school districts

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1/28/98 10:51 PM