FLOODPLAINS

The National Flood Insurance Program

MCD has been a resource for floodplain information for many years, although we are not directly involved in enforcing floodplain-management regulations or the flood insurance program. Each participating city or county is responsible for retaining copies of the flood maps and enforcing the floodplain regulations for its jurisdiction. Mortgage lenders determine if flood insurance is required for individual properties.

The National Flood Insurance Program was created in 1968 to provide affordable flood insurance to property owners and to assist communities in implementing and enforcing regulations that control construction and development in floodplain areas.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), administers the program. FEMA created floodplain maps for thousands of cities, counties and villages to identify flood-prone properties and to define areas where management of floodplain development was necessary.

MCD provided hydrologic data and historic flood information to FEMA for the original mapping projects. Miami Conservancy District also reviewed many of the draft maps and assisted communities in the Great Miami River Watershed in implementing floodplain management. 

Many FEMA floodplain maps are nearly 25 years old. Although changes in land use, increased upstream development and urbanization have likely resulted in changes to floodplains, FEMA has had very limited resources to update hydrologic studies and revise the maps. FEMA is working cooperatively with communities to fund new mapping and map updates using GIS technology. The Miami Conservancy District will continue to be a resource for information and assist in these projects where feasible.

For site-specific flood information, please contact the city or county in which the property is located.