PIMA COUNTY -- The Pima County Board of Supervisors, sitting as the Flood Control District Board of Directors, on Oct. 2 approved a resolution directing the Regional Flood Control District to develop a countywide Floodplain Management Plan with the intent of improving the County’s standing under the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System (CRS).
Currently, Pima County qualifies as a Class 5 community under the CRS, ranking it among the best in the nation. The classification also gives County residents the ability to receive a discount of up to 25 percent on flood insurance premiums. To qualify for the higher Class 4 rating and be granted a 30 percent discount, the County must complete a public floodplain management planning process and flood warning system, the latter of which is already underway.
“We are currently working with the Office of Emergency Management to map out ‘inundation areas’ - areas likely to experience flooding - in OEM's MyAlerts mass notification system and writing specific flood warning messages in consultation with the Sheriff's Department,” Flood Control Director Suzanne Shields said. “We expect to roll out the system in the Tanque Verde Valley this winter.”
The District will continue to participate in annual flood response exercises in concert with OEM, the Sheriff's Department, County Department of Transportation, Southern Arizona Search and Rescue and Rural Metro Fire Department, among others.
As part of the new process initiated by the Board, the District will assemble a planning committee and begin reviewing flood hazards and mitigation activities watershed-by-watershed. This information will be made available for public comment before Flood Control officials submit a formal draft of the management plan to the Board for approval. The entire process is expected to take approximately one year.
Successful completion of these pre-requisites may result in Pima County receiving a rating of Class 4 or perhaps even Class 3, and becoming one of the top 15 communities in the nation.