Laserfiche WebLink
<br />. 002555 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />The standard level of protection that has been adopted <br />in the administration of the National Flood Insurance Act is <br />the one-in-one-hundred-year frequency flood. As mentioned <br />earlier in this statement, the Corps of Engineers had <br />determined that 40,000 cfs is the maximum release rate that <br />historically would have inflicted a minimum level of <br />downstream damages. Consequently, the boundaries of the <br />Colorado River Floodway should be capable of accommodating a <br />one-in-one-hundred-year river flow or a 40,000 cfs flow, <br />whichever is greater, from Davis Dam to the Southerly <br />International Boundary between the united States and the <br />Republic of Mexico. <br /> <br />It is the position of the Basin states that the <br />Secretary's analysis of the one-in-one-hundred-year river <br />flow should represent a realistic probability of such flow <br />occurring in any reach of the river at a given time, and <br />should not arbitrarily assume that flood inflows from all <br />tributaries occur simultaneously. It is the nature of <br />weather events along the lower Colorado River, a desert <br />region, that most rain storms are intense, localized thunder <br />showers that would produce floods from only a few tributaries <br />at a time, and the Secretary's study should reflect this. <br />The provision of Section 5(b)(l)(ii) in S. 1696 satis- <br />factorily addresses these issues concerning the accommodation <br />of the combined controlled releases and tributary inflow <br />within the floodway. <br /> <br />Sec. 6. This section provides the restriction on future <br />federal expenditures within the floodway necessary to <br />accomplish the purpose of the bill as set forth in Sec. 2(b). <br />Any individual who wishes to risk his personal funds by <br />constructing a development within the floodway would not be <br />prohibited from doing so by this bill. However, the bill <br />prohibits any such potential developer from participating in <br />federal programs that may aid his development and puts him on <br />notice that public funds will not be available to compensate <br />him for his losses in the event of inundation of his land. <br /> <br />Sec. 7. There are several functions and uses of the <br />floodway that serve the public interest, and this section <br />recognizes those functions and uses by providing limited <br />exceptions to the prohibition ef federal expenditures. These <br />exceptions are enumerated as river control structures and <br />related works, public roads, military activities, fish and <br />wildlife enhancement projects, navigation aids, emergency <br />action assistance, public health assistance, public <br />recreational developments, and farming activities. <br /> <br />-10- <br />