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Provo to adopt updated FEMA floodplain maps and tighten floodplain management standards
Summary
Public Works presented FEMA’s revised floodplain maps and proposed ordinance language to meet NFIP requirements; staff highlighted outreach efforts, map changes affecting low-lying areas including airport and river-lake interaction zones, and steps to avoid losing flood insurance eligibility.
Tommy Sherbel, stormwater engineer for Provo’s Public Works Department, and Benjamin Rude of WSP presented proposed amendments to the Provo City Code to align local floodplain management and development standards with FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program.
Sherbel explained FEMA’s updated hydraulic and mapping work altered flood hazard footprints on Provo’s west side and along the river–lake interface; maps now identify additional 1% annual-chance (100-year) and 0.2% annual-chance flood areas. Changes could affect parcels near the airport and low-lying neighborhoods, and the city must adopt ordinance language and FEMA’s maps to maintain NFIP participation and residents’ access to flood insurance.
Staff described multi-year outreach—open houses, mailed notices, door hangers and coordination with the county emergency manager and FEMA—to notify affected property owners.
Sherbel and consultants emphasized that many protections and operations remain in place: Provo’s stormwater operations and existing conveyance infrastructure reduce practical flood risk in many mapped areas, and the city performs yearly spring-runoff monitoring, levee inspections and emergency preparations. Staff will present revised ordinance language for formal adoption in a later meeting and continue targeted property owner outreach.
No formal council vote occurred on the ordinance at the work meeting; staff recommended adoption that would meet or exceed FEMA minimums and incorporate the new maps into local code.
