For several years, the City of Boulder has been studying the South Boulder Creek flood plain. In 2012 a new 100-year flood plain map was adopted; this new map includes the homes in our neighborhood.

September 2013 brought unprecedented rainfall and flooding to the area. A wealth of related information is available on the City of Boulder website at https://bouldercolorado.gov/water/boulder-flood-info.

City of Boulder web pages with flood plain information:

City of Boulder - Interactive Flood Plain Map

Basic information on flooding and insurance
Click on Residential Coverage for rates and information on what is covered.

US Government flood information
On the right side is a box with Quick Links. Click on Flood Information, or, under it, Flood Insurance or Flood Maps. Under Flood Maps you will find the "Definitions of FEMA Flood Zone Designations."

Documents for our neighborhood about the flood plain:

Notes from South Boulder Creek flood plain meeting, August 2014 (PDF)

Flood Plain Summary (PDF)

Flood Plain FAQs (PDF)

In January 2014, an engineer/hydrologist was engaged to evaluate the impacts to our neighborhood due to the flooding. This report describes his observations and recommendations.

Additionally, this document was recommended: Guide to Moisture Resistant Homes: A Best Practice Guide and Plan Review Tool for Builders and Designers with a Supplemental Guide for Homeowners.

Flood Plain Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

These questions and answers are also included in the Flood Plain FAQs PDF document above. They are reproduced here for your convenience.

NOTE: These answers are our interpretations based on reading the information in the documents and websites listed above. Please do your own research too. If you find new or conflicting information, LET US KNOW so we can share it with everyone.

Q: Are you sure that if I purchase the flood insurance now, and I sell my house, the lower rate will be transferable to the new owner? My insurance agent tells me otherwise.

A: There are three levels of insurance. The PREFERRED rate is what you can purchase now, before the new Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is approved (around $388). After the FIRM is approved, and you then renew your flood insurance the rate would be "grandfathered" to allow you to purchase insurance at the ZONE X STANDARD RATE (around $1484).The benefits of the grandfathered zone can always be transferred to the new owner if the house is sold. If you wait until after the new FIRM has been adopted, you or a new owner would have to pay around $2647 for comparable coverage.

Q: If the survey were to show that my house is above the flood plain, would it still make sense to keep the flood insurance in place?

A: If it turns out that my house is inches above the BFE, I would still choose to get flood insurance. Nobody is that good at predicting a flood. Basically it depends on how risk averse you are. Or, how lucky you think you are.

Q: It sounds like we might see some city flood mitigation work within the next several years. Is that your sense, or is the set aside money likely to disappear?

A: We're pretty sure the money is allocated and is likely to be there... but who knows?

Q: Has there been previous communication on this from the city or FEMA?

A: This has been a lengthy process over the past couple of years and there have been several general meetings held...typically at the East Boulder Recreation Center. Some of our neighbors did attend them. There was no direct communication to the HOA.

Q: Why should we, the homeowners, pay to have our house surveyed?

A: The city's position is that they did an aerial survey, which resulted in the flood plain map. Some are saying this survey may be inaccurate. If you want to challenge their results, you can, but you have to pay for the survey. The reason you might want to pay to have your property surveyed is to see if it is above the flood plain. We've been told that there are houses on Pennsylvania Ave. (just south of us) who had a survey done and were above the flood plain.

Q: Do you happen to know why the rates quoted in the document are preferred risk policy vs. standard rated policy? Why do we qualify for this?

A: The "Preferred Risk" policy applies to policies purchased under the existing/old FIRM. The "Zone X Standard Rate" applies to the "grandfathered" rate you would pay, after the new FIRM is approved and you renew your flood insurance.

Q: Perhaps there's some collective association flood insurance we could get that would provide a huge discount for 40 homes?

A: Condos and townhouses have collective insurance. For us, the answer basically is NO. The FEMA rates are government subsidized rates available to residents of a city that participates in FEMA's program by providing up-to-date flood surveys. There is no further discount available.