Flood Insurance Program: Regional Agency's Perspective

While the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has enhanced flood-plain management on the national level, some aspects of the program have frustrated flood-plain management efforts within state and local governmental jurisdiction. Positive features of the NFIP as seen from the perspective of a regional planning agency experienced in flood-plain management are: mandatory flood-plain regulations and certainty of post-flood financial assistance. Negative features of the NFIP are: problems associated with the required floodway delineations, the civil division orientation, use of existing condition flood hazard data for requlatory purposes, and the limited scope with respect to finding solutions to existing and future flood problems. The effectiveness of the NFIP could be enhanced by: conducting studies on a watershed basis, encouraging comprehensive land use planning and control in riverine areas, analyzing upstream and downstream impacts of floodways, determining the impact of future land uses, and encouraging the use of flood insurance studies as the first phase of comprehensive watershed studies.