FLOOD07945

• Designation Number: 563
• County: Grand
• Community: Hot Sulphur Springs
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Title: Floodplain Information Report
• Date: 5/1/2002
• Prepared For: Hot Sulphur Springs and CWCB
• Prepared By: Montgomery Watson Harza
• Floodplain - Doc Type: Floodplain Report/Masterplan

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FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT

Local Ordinance Requirements
Communities that manage their floodplains in Colorado do so most often through the local
regulatory process. This requires a community to adopt an ordinance or regulation, which sets
forth the perfonnance standards by which development will occur in identified flood hazard
areas. Nationwide and in Colorado, regulations are enforced within the area of the 100-year
floodplain.

The basic requirement of these regulations is that new development and significant improvement
of existing development cannot occur in the I DO-year floodplain without a floodplain
development pennit being obtained. Obtaining such a pennit requires compliance with
engineering standards. In communities that have approximate floodplain infonnation, the
engineering standards have been more general. Structures must be built with materials and
techniques that "minimize flood damages". For communities that have detailed floodplain
infonnation, more specific regulations would apply. The use of engineering techniques presented
in this report can help the county to better regulate its approximate floodplain areas.

Flood Insurance
Flood insurance is made available to owners and occupants of floodprone property through the
federal goverrunent's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The federally backed flood
insurance is available to anyone in any community that participates in the NFIP. At the time of
this publication, the Town of Hot Sulphur Springs is not participating in the NFIP. Communities
become participants by adopting floodplain regulations, adopting an NFIP map (if one exists) and
agreeing to cooperate with the federal goverrunent in the local implementation of the NFIP.
Property owners and occupants can then contact an insurance agent familiar with the NFIP
(perhaps their own agent) and purchase insurance through that agent, much like they would
purchase homeowner's insurance. Brochures and other infonnation regarding the National Flood
Insurance Program can be obtained by calling the Regional Office of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) in Denver at [phone].

Floodplain Manae:ement Alternatives
Besides floodplain regulations and flood insurance, there are many actions that can reduce the
risk of flood damage in a community. Generally these actions fall into two classes, structural
actions and non-structural actions. Structural actions involve the construction of facilities to
separate floodwaters from property that is at risk. They include construction of improved
channels, enlargement of crossing structures (bridges and culverts), levees and floodwalls,
reservoirs and ponds to detain floodwaters and diversion channels and pipes to direct waters
elsewhere. Non-structural actions usually involve removing people and/or structures from the
risk area without physically altering the floodplain. Actions include regulation of new
development, the adoption and enforcement of specific building code requirements,
floodproofing of existing buildings, relocation of structures to safer sites, acquisition of
floodplain (including buildings) for open space or other appropriate land uses, public education,
flood warning systems and emergency response programs.

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