Floodplains within the City and County of Broomfield
Floodplain management is a community-based effort to prevent or reduce the risk of flooding. Multiple groups with a stake in protecting their communities from flooding carry out floodplain management functions including zoning, building codes, enforcement, education and more.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has minimum floodplain management standards for communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and Broomfield brings those standards even higher, leading to a safer, stronger and more resilient community.
Floodplain Revision
The City and County of Broomfield, working with Loewen Engineering, Inc., is applying for a map revision from FEMA to revise the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) along the City Park Channel and South Tributary floodplains to reflect updated topography and accurately map the floodplain.
The FIRM for a community depicts the floodplain, or the area that has been determined to be subject to a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year. The FIRM is used to help the community with floodplain management.
Loewen Engineering, Inc. is proposing to revise FIRMs 0850730086H and 0850730087G to reflect updated topography and accurately map the floodplain extents based on the recently completed Flood Hazard Area Delineation.
This revision will move the regulatory floodway, which is the portion of the floodplain that includes a watercourse and the adjacent land area that must be reserved in order to discharge the overflow of water in the 1% annual chance of flood.
The floodway shall be revised generally between Spader Way and Compton Street; specifically from a point 850-ft. downstream of Main Street to a point 171-ft. upstream of Compton Street. The South Tributary floodway shall be revised from its confluence with the City Park Channel to Highway 287. As a result of the map revision, the regulatory floodway will widen\narrow within the revised area.
The City and County of Broomfield Engineering Department, in accordance with National Flood Insurance Program regulations, has given notice to property owners who will have a change to the flood hazard mapping on their property. The map revision will also result in:
- Increases and decreases in the 1-percent-annual-chance water-surface elevations
- Widening and narrowing of the 1-percent-annual-chance floodplain
More Information
Maps and a detailed analysis of the flood hazard revisions can be reviewed at the Community Development office at the George Di Ciero City and County Building:
George Di Ciero City and County Building
One DesCombes Drive
Broomfield, CO 80020
For questions or concerns about the project or its effect on your property, you may contact Rebecca Baker, City and County of Broomfield Floodplain Manager, at rbaker@broomfield.org.