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DHS FEMA NFIP Services - eWaterwark Article
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First-Rate Community
Lynd Morris, NFIP Bureau and Statistical Agent
Ceremony honors Roseville as first CRS Class 1 community (from left: Councilmember
Jim Gray, Mayor Pro Tem Rocky Rockholm, Mayor Gina Garbolino, Director of FEMA's Mitigation
Division David Maurstad, Councilmember John Allard, and FEMA's CRS Program Manager Bret Gates). |
Public officials in Roseville, California, have dedicated a lot of time, money, and effort to finding ways
to protect their community from flood hazards. And it has paid off. On October 1, 2006, Roseville became
the first community to achieve a Class 1 designation in the NFIP's Community Rating System (CRS). This
means that not only are NFIP policyholders in this community's floodplain eligible for a 45-percent
reduction in their flood insurance premiums, but everyone in Roseville is benefiting because it is
better prepared to prevent, reduce, and recover from flood losses than any other CRS community in the
United States.
From Maidu to Modern
Just 15 miles north of Sacramento, Roseville is located within portions of two major drainage basins
that eventually empty into the Sacramento and American Rivers. The indigenous peoples of this region were
the Maidu Nation. In the early 1800s, fur trappers explored the area and, when gold was discovered in
Placer County in 1848, more than 10,000 miners poured into the area. But further gold failed to
materialize, and pioneer ranchers replaced departing miners, becoming the first permanent residents of
the area now known as Roseville.
In 1863, the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad reached Roseville. A year later, the original
map for the city was filed, "Plan of the Town of Roseville at the Junction of the Central Pacific and
California Railroads." Today, with a population of more than 100,000, Roseville has evolved from a
suburb of Sacramento to an urban center with thriving residential and commercial areas.
Flooding in the Roseville region has been the result of storm runoff that exceeds the capacity of area
creeks and storm drains. Except for a dry period from 1973 through 1981, flood damage to property has
been recorded in Roseville every 3 to 5 years since 1950. Two of the largest flood events on record took
place in 1986 and 1995. According to Roseville's Public Works Department, 209 homes and business were
damaged as the result of winter flooding in 1986. In 1995, 358 structures were damaged by winter
flooding, prompting a Presidential Disaster Declaration.
Roseville Responds
According to Rhon Herndon, Manager of the City of Roseville's Engineering Division, several planning
and development strategies have been particularly useful in averting serious flooding like that
experienced in 1986 and 1995. Roseville participated in creating the Placer County Flood Control
District after the 1986 flood. The District generated the Dry Creek Watershed Flood Control Plan, which
includes regional stormwater detention basins and other improvements within the Dry Creek basin.
These improvements are partially funded by developer-paid fees.
"In newly developing areas of Roseville, we require what is call an 'overland release,'" explains
Herndon. "This means that the entire area will drain without causing flood damage to any homes. We
even go so far as to assume that, if the storm drain system under the street in that residential area
were completely plugged, 100 percent of the surface flow would escape that subdivision without causing
damage to the homes. And, in development that occurs outside of the floodplain but adjacent to it, we
make sure that the pads those buildings are constructed on are at least 2 feet above the 100-year
future water surface elevation."
Roseville also initiated a 5-year, $20-million flood control improvement project that included buying
out repetitive loss properties, elevating buildings at risk of flooding, excavating channels,
constructing berms and flood walls, and replacing culverts. In addition, Roseville has installed an
early warning system with 18 rain gauges, 19 stream level gauges, and a computer monitoring system.
During high stream flows, the City broadcasts stream levels on community cable TV. The City monitors
Doppler radar and satellite imaging of incoming storms to assist in advance notification efforts in
the event evacuation of flood-prone areas is deemed necessary. The Fire Department uses a telephone
auto-dialer system that notifies occupants of the status of creek levels. In 2001, real-time stream
gauge data was added to the City's website.
Creditable Activities
As of October 1, 2006, of the 1,049 communities across the United States that participate in the CRS
(see "Increasing Policyholder Discounts"), Roseville is the first to attain a Class 1
rating. What set this community ahead of the rest?
According to David Maurstad, Federal Insurance Administrator and Director of FEMA's Mitigation
Division, Roseville has achieved what the CRS was designed to do. "Roseville has not only accumulated
creditable points in nearly every CRS activity, but has met all of the tough Class 4 and Class 1
requirements, such as developing and implementing an all-hazards plan and building code; mitigating 33
of their 35 repetitive loss properties; and supporting flood insurance policy growth with more than
50-percent market penetration," says Maurstad.
Freeboard
According to the NFIP's Flood Insurance Manual, freeboard is a factor of safety usually
expressed in feet above a flood level for purposes of floodplain management. "Freeboard" tends to
compensate for the many unknown factors that could contribute to flood heights greater than the
height calculated for a selected size flood and floodway conditions, such as wave action, bridge
openings, and the hydrological effect of urbanization of the watershed. Freeboard is not required
by NFIP standards, but communities are encouraged to adopt at least a 1-foot freeboard to account
for the 1-foot rise built into the concept of designating a floodway and the encroachment
requirements where floodways have not been designated. Freeboard results in significantly lower flood
insurance rates due to lower flood risk.
Roseville relies on wide-ranging activities to protect its citizens from flooding. These include open
space preservation, cluster development, freeboard in the city's X Zones, stormwater management, flood
warning, strong building codes, and an all-hazard predisaster mitigation plan. In fact, the community
receives CRS points in 17 of the 18 floodplain management activities that can earn credit (see below for descriptions of some of Roseville's credited activities).
A Selection of Roseville's CRS Creditable Activities
Activity 320, Map Information Service: Credit is provided for providing inquirers with flood zone
information from the community's latest Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), publicizing the service
annually, and maintaining records.
Activity 330, Outreach Projects: A community brochure is mailed to all properties in the community on an
annual basis. An outreach brochure is mailed annually to all properties in the community's Special
Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The community also provides flood information through displays at City Hall.
Activity 410, Additional Flood Data: Credit is provided for conducting and adopting flood studies for
areas not included on the FIRMs and that exceed minimum mapping standards. Credit also is provided for
a Cooperating Technical Partnership agreement with FEMA.
Activity 450, Stormwater Management: The community enforces regulations for stormwater management,
freeboard in non-SFHA zones, soil and erosion control, and water quality. Credit also is provided
for stormwater management master planning.
Activity 520, Acquisition and Relocation: Credit is provided for acquiring and relocating buildings
from the community's flood hazard area.
Activity 530, Flood Protection: Credit is provided for buildings that have been floodproofed, elevated,
or otherwise modified to protect them from flood damage.
Activity 630, Dam Safety: Roseville receives CRS credit for the State of California's dam safety
program. Credit also is provided for a dam failure emergency response plan.
The new 45-percent insurance premium reduction now earned by Roseville will represent an annual
savings of hundreds of flood insurance premium dollars for each NFIP policyholder in the
community's floodplain. The mitigation actions that earned this premium reduction will produce an
incalculable savings in lives, property, and disruption after a flood. And, according to Garth
Gaylord, a senior engineer in Roseville's Public Works Department, the benefits of participating in
the CRS are worth the expense. "The cost of meeting the requirements of the CRS program is not much
more than the cost of implementing good floodplain management," says Gaylord. "Any community that
understands the flooding problem probably already has programs implemented that would get it a CRS
Class 8, which earns a 10-percent premium discount."
Implementing CRS activities that earn the most points--such as conducting detailed flood studies,
floodproofing homes, or buying out floodprone properties--represents a significant investment by the
community, which must rely on the support of its taxpayers. Public education has been an effective
way to build public support for mitigation. "The city mails out an annual pamphlet to each structure
in the floodplain," explains Gaylord. "The pamphlet not only talks about what to do before the flood,
during the flood, and after the flood--it also says 'Since you are in the floodplain, we recommend that
you get flood insurance.'"
Everyone Wins
Mitigation measures potentially can benefit everyone, whether or not they are NFIP policyholders.
For example, Roseville receives 180 CRS points for its early warning system and its designation as a
Storm Ready Community by the National Weather Service. Some of Roseville's residents have received a
second chance from the early warning system.
"Back in 1995, when we had our second significant flooding here in the community, we did somewhere in
the neighborhood of 300-plus water rescues where we actually sent fire, police, and public works
personnel out into those flood areas to evacuate people," reports Ed Rutherford, Captain of Roseville's
Fire Department. "In 1996, after we implemented this early warning program, we were impacted by
another 100-year flood and we did zero water rescues."
The CRS is a program that has been shown to make floodplains, and the people who live and work in
them, safer. For more information about Roseville's
floodplain management strategies, visit their website. For details about how to join the
Community Rating System or how to improve your community's rating if it is already in the
CRS, visit the
CRS Resource Center.
Lynd Morris began working with the NFIP's Bureau and Statistical Agent in 1983. She has been
Watermark's primary writer and production coordinator since 1998.
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| Last Modified:
Friday, 21 January 2011 |
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