City Council adopts updated floodplain maps

For Immediate Release
August 8, 2008

The Austin City Council formally adopted new floodplain maps yesterday. These maps have been digitized and updated with more accurate data and computer models. They reveal changes in Austin’s floodplains. For instance, there are some subdivisions that are no longer in the floodplain, mainly due to Capital Improvement Projects. However, there are also businesses and houses now in the floodplain that were previously thought to be outside of it.

Being in the floodplain is significant. This is because of the risk to life and property. There are also different development regulations, and lenders with federal financing require flood insurance for property in a floodplain.

Homeowners, business owners and renters who live near a creek should check whether their home is in a floodplain by calling their insurance agent or going online to www.cityofaustin.org/watershed/flood.htm. If the property is no longer in the floodplain, the cost of flood insurance should drop.

If the property is shown in the floodplain on the new maps, owners and renters should consider purchasing flood insurance now. In some cases, purchasing now will allow them to receive the lowest "Preferred Risk Policy." However, if they wait until after September 26, 2008, to purchase flood insurance, their policy will cost significantly more. September 26 is when the new maps become effective.

For the most part, changes to the floodplains are spread throughout the City. Floodplains run in slivers throughout Austin, cutting through neighborhood and other civic boundaries. They run alongside our creeks, even those that are normally dry, as well as the Colorado River. In some places, the floodplain hugs the edge of the creek bed; in others, the floodplain extends much farther from the banks and includes buildings a couple of blocks away. This variability is partly why these maps are so important. They are the best way to assess the risk of creek flooding throughout Austin.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency began updating Austin and Travis County’s floodplain maps in 2003 as part of a national Map Modernization Project. At the time, the area’s floodplain maps were paper, non-digitized and an average of 22 years old.

For more information, the public can visit www.cityofaustin.org/watershed/flood.htm or call our Map Modernization Hotline at 974-2843.