Get AI Briefings, Transcripts & Alerts on Local & National Government Meetings — Forever.
Washoe County outlines FEMA remapping projects for North Spanish Springs, Lehi Valley and South Truckee Meadows
Loading...
Summary
County engineering staff updated commissioners on ongoing FEMA floodplain remapping work in Boneyard Flat (North Spanish Springs), Swan Lake/Lehi Valley and South Truckee Meadows, described use of lidar and updated modeling, and announced a public meeting on the Swan Lake update next Wednesday.
Duane Smith, Washoe County director of engineering and capital projects, briefed the Board of Commissioners on multiple FEMA floodplain remapping projects and the county’s role in floodplain risk management.
Smith said flood maps are “snapshots in time” and that many maps nationwide are out of date; he told commissioners that roughly 30 percent of FEMA’s annual flood claims are for properties outside designated high‑risk flood zones. He emphasized that local knowledge, updated terrain data (including lidar) and improved hydraulic modeling produce more accurate maps than relying solely on broad federal mapping efforts.
Smith described three active remapping projects in unincorporated Washoe County: North Spanish Springs (the Boneyard Flat closed basin), Lehi Valley/Swan Lake (current FEMA map effective date 2009) and the South Truckee Meadows (tributaries including White’s, Thomas, Galena and Steamboat Creeks). He said a public meeting on the Swan Lake/Lehi Valley update is scheduled next Wednesday from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the North Valleys community center; the county mailed letters not only to immediately adjacent property owners but to the wider Lemon Valley neighborhood.
Smith also noted policy changes the county has adopted to reduce flood risk, including increasing a volumetric mitigation requirement for development in FEMA floodplains from a one‑to‑one ratio to 1.3 to 1. He described coordination with the City of Reno and the Truckee River Flood Management Authority on the South Truckee Meadows work and said additional priority mapping areas include Hidden Valley and Sun Valley following recent flood events.
Commissioners praised the outreach approach and asked about funding. Smith said FEMA funds mapping work but that projects using local experts and finer‑scale data cost more; he noted a recent joint Washoe County and City of Reno agreement to fund the South Tributary project as an example of pooling local dollars to produce more precise maps and reduce the risk of incorrectly classifying properties into flood zones.
Ending: Smith urged community participation in the Swan Lake public meeting and reiterated that updated maps inform mitigation, insurance, development decisions and grant eligibility for hazard‑mitigation programs such as FEMA’s HMGP and BRIC.
