FLOOD07416

• County: Statewide
• Basin: Statewide
• Title: A Review of the 1997 Colorado Flood Disaster
• Date: 1/1/1998
• Prepared For: State of Colorado
• Prepared By: Colorado Office of Emergency Management
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Flood Documentation Report

LESSONS of RECOVERY' A REViEW of TIlE 1997 COlORAdo Flood DisASTER

Mitigation

Ayear after the flood, the Fort Collins City Council has considered a plan to make development policies in
the city's 11 storm runoff basins more restrictive. Prior to the flood, the City had already earned a
reputation for sound stormwater utility and floodplain management practices. Between 1989 and the
flood, for example, the City spent $5 million removing 85 structures from the Spring Creek 1 DO-year floodplain,
a program that city officials credit for saving as many as 98 lives during the 1997 event.

Prior to the 1997 flood, FEMA also awarded Fort Collins a Class 6 rating in the NFIP Community Rating
System in recognition of the City's development of a comprehensive floodplain management program and
implementation of hazard mitigation measures. Fort Collins is one of only 10 cities nationwide in 1997 to have
achieved the rating, which gives residents a 20 percent discount on flood insurance premiums.
The City's flood hazard mitigation efforts were also recognized in FEMA's selection of the City as the state's
first Project Impact community,

In the wake of the flood, Fort Collins and Larimer County are undertaking several large mitigation projects that
address flood hazards in the areas hardest hit in 1997.

Larimer County is implementing structural mitigation measures in the West Vine Drainage basin to alleviate
repetitive minor flooding problems and infrequent severe flooding such as in 1997. The project includes
construction of new stormwater outlet works, multiple culvert crossings, grass-lined drainage channels to
convey runoff, a new detention pond, and elevation of two homes. The project is jointly funded by Larimer
County and the State of Colorado. The total estimated cost of the project is approximately $727,000, with
Larimer County funding approximately $377,000 and the remaining $350,000 funded using Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars (Larimer County, 1988).

In Fort Collins, a project to implement a flood proofing program for private residences subject to repetitive
shallow flooding has been approved for funding under FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP),
authorized by the Stafford Act for federally-declared disasters. The federal share of the project cost is $150,000
(75 percent) and the City of Fort Collins will provide $50,000 matching funds (25 percent) for a total of
$200,000. The project is designed to fund f1oodproofing measures for private properties, including mini-
floodwalls, sump pumps, watertight closures, landscape berms, and check valves on sanitary sewer discharge
lines. The City will use the funds to provide subsidies ranging from 25 to 50 percent of flood proofing costs,
depending on conditions at each property City of Fort Collins, 1998b),

Improvements to the stormwater drainage system in the Old Town basin of Fort Collins are also being
undertaken as part of the City's capital improvements program. The projects, which were moved up on the
schedule as a result of the flood, are designed to improve storm sewer and street conveyance capacity in older
sections of town and in historic drainage corridors. The City is also planning capital improvements that are
designed to control spills from the irrigation channels that run throughout the city (Grigg et ai, 1998).

Another approved HMGP project involves the development of a comprehensive early warning system for
city residents. The Poudre Fire Authority and Office of Emergency Management have designed a system
to increase warning times for potential floods and other hazards by utilizing new technology to collect, analyze
and communicate critical information. Part of the system includes expansion of the existing streamflow and
precipitation gage networks and installation of new gage hardware to report stream conditions in all drainage
basins on a real-time basis, as opposed to only once an hour. The emergency notification part of the system
relies on multiple methods for alerting the community of an emergency situation, including a new automated
dialing system (Reverse 911), an enhanced cable television override system, and a new emergency
management AM radio station.

Colo....do OffiCE of EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

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