BOARD01909

• Board Meeting Date: 5/20/2002
• Description: Flood Section - Floodplain Designation Update
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

STATE OF COLORADO

Colorado Water Conservation Board
Department of Natural Resources
1313 Shennan Street, Room 721
Denver, Colorado 80203
Phone: [phone]
FAX, [phone]
www.cwcb.state.co.us

Bill Owens
GovetTlor

MEMORANDUM

Greg E. Walcher
Executive Director

TO:
FROM:

Colorado Water Conservation Board Members
Larry Lang, Chief, Flood Protection Section
Thomas Browning, P.E., Flood Protection Section
March 7, 2002
Agenda Item 21.a, May 20 - 21, 2002 CWCB Meeting
Floodplain Designation Update

Rod Kuharich
CWCB Director

Dan McAuliffe
Deputy Director

DATE:
RE:

Introduction
CWCB staff performs technical reviews of floodplain information to assure the Board that the
information is in compliance with the requirements of the CWCB's "Rules and regulations for
the designation and approval of floodplains and of storm or floodwater runoff channels in
Colorado," 2 CCR 408-1. Since December 1967, the Board has designated and approved 559
(564 pending Board approval of 5 new resolutions for this Board meeting) floodplain information
reports and maps. The purpose of this memo is to brief new Board members and to provide Board
members with an overview of the floodplain designation and approval process. Staff will provide
a snapshot of the current floodplain designation status as well as a review of the staff's progress
on the floodplain designation backlog.

Discussion

Background
Sections 31-23-301 and 30-28-111, Colorado Revised Statutes, state that legislative bodies of
local jurisdictions may provide zoning regulations for land uses on or along any storm or
floodwater runoff channel or basin only after designation and approval by the CWCB. In
addition, Section 37-60-106(1)(c), Colorado Revised Statutes, directs the CWCB to designate
and approve storm or floodwater runoff channels or basins and to make such designations
available to legislative bodies oflocal jurisdictions.

The CWCB's designation and approvals are necessary for local commumt1es to meet the
statutory requirements of the State and greatly assist communities in meeting the regulatory
requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program. Floodplain information is broadly
categorized as detailed or approximate using the following defl11itions.