FEMA shrinks city flood plain
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

FEMA recently approved an appeal filed by Moorpark regarding the expansion of flood plains within the city. The new flood maps proposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 2005 were contested because they inaccurately incorporated large areas of Moorpark into a newly designated flood plain, according to city leaders.

A flood plain is an area beyond the floodway that would be subject to flooding in a 100-year storm, a storm so severe there is only a 1 in 100 chance of it occurring.

Officials wanted FEMA to reduce the floodway and the 100year flood plain area due to conflicting information in FEMA's designations, said Yugal Lall, city engineer.

"It's something we worked hard for, so the appeal's success is a major achievement for the city. Many residents will be spared from having to pay $500 to $1,000 per year for flood insurance," said Lall.

The successful appeal reduces the flood plain by 22 percent, the equivalent of 220 acres.

The appeal study also reduces the preliminary floodway area in the city by 39 percent, equaling 107 acres.

The most significant reduction in floodway is along the northerly bank of Arroyo Simi between Los Angeles Avenue and Tierra Rejada Road. Several residential and commercial developments have been constructed or are planned in the area, Lall said.

In the Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map created by FEMA, the floodway extended well beyond the Arroyo Simi and would have prevented development projects from proceeding. Most of the floodway is now contained within the Arroyo Simi, so developments can proceed once typographical errors in the appeal approval are corrected, Lall said.

Areas with notable flood plain reductions include the region between Spring and Tierra Rejada roads, which used to extend north to Poindexter Avenue and beyond but has now been brought closer to the channel, with a range between 500 to 1,600 feet, Lall said.

Most of the preliminary FEMA flood plain between Fremont Street and Los Angeles and Moorpark avenues has been removed, and 40 percent of the preliminary FEMA flood plain between Moorpark and Los Angeles avenues and Leta Yancy Road has also been eliminated from the scheme.

The flood plain just upstream of Moorpark Avenue was the most reduced in width, according to Lall.

The Peach Hill Wash flood plain designation that would have impacted many homes in the Peach Hill area was removed last year following the first appeal, he said.

No development will be permitted in the floodway channel, the path that the water flows through, but this was dramatically reduced because of the city's appeal, Lall said.