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. . '. FLOOD INFORMATION FACT SHEET FLATIRON PROPERTY AT US mGHWAY 36 IN BOULDER COUNTY, CO The University of Colorado, at the request of the Joint Budget Committee of the State Legislature to review the floodplain issues associated with the Flatiron Property, engaged 'j the firm of Love & Associates, Inc. to undertake an engineering review of floodplain . I, impacts to the 308-acre Flatiron Property located south of US Highway 36 (Boulder Turnpike) at Foothills Parkway. The Flatiron Property is located adjacent to the South ' Boulder Creek loo-year floodplain as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) dated June 2, 1995. TFI floodplain study undertaken by Love & Associates was confined solely to the impacts of the South Boulder Creek lOO-year floodplain on the Flatiron Property. ~ In snmmary, the Love & Associates' study has revealed that: 1. If a FEMA-certified flood protection levee (berm) is completed on the Flatiron Property, the neighborhoods to the north of US 36 would be in less of a flood hazard than without the berm; 2. The berm will serve to keep the majority of the Flatiron Property out of the floodplain; 3. Additional floodplain studies need to be undeI:taken in order to define the floodplains north of US Highway 36 at three spill locations; and 4. There may be an opportUnity for the University and the City and County to work together to protect the community's life safety and welfare. The FEMA regulatory lOO-year floodplain is based upon a study prepared for Boulder County and the Urban Drainage & Flood Control District (UD&FCD) in 1986 by . Greenhorne & O'Mara. The initial flood study for South Boulder Creek was prepared by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1969 followed by a 1973 study commissioned by the UD&FCD prepared by R.W. Beck. As a part of their analyses, Love & Associates developed lOO-year floodplain models for the Flatiron Property based on two conditions. The first condition assumeA that the berm did not exist. In order to analyze the first condition, since the site is. currently l;Ul:: operating gravel mine and grades are changing on a daily basis, the operator~s" reclamation grading plan was utilized for the analysis. The reclamation gi'ading plan incorporates an approximately 200-foot wide flood protection channel on the southe\ll; and eastern edge extending to the northwest edge of the Flatiron Property. The second condition assumed the berm surrounding portions of the property was constructed in accordance with FEMA criteria as a flood protection levee and could be certified as such. -- / ----- -