Boulder County, Colo. - Boulder County Transportation has received a federal grant to conduct a pilot program that will help reduce flood risk for individual properties. Funding from the grant allows Boulder County to complete site-specific evaluations for unincorporated county property owners who are interested in applying for federal assistance to reduce flood risk through property elevation, relocation, or acquisition.

The site-specific evaluations conducted as part of the pilot program will assist property owners in determining whether they are eligible for this federal assistance. For some eligible properties, the pilot program will result in applications for federal assistance.

The Floodplain Partners pilot program is currently seeking interested property owners in unincorporated Boulder County who may be willing to participate in this pilot program.

Floodplain Partners will assist with the financial costs of evaluating the benefits and costs of completing one of these three flood mitigation strategies:

• Home elevation to physically raise structures to provide room for flood water to flow underneath the home.
• Home relocation to move structures from their current location to another spot on the property that is out of the floodplain, if available.
• Buy-out to completely remove the home and restore the land beneath it. After a property is purchased, it would become public land that is maintained by the county and unavailable for development.

The site-specific evaluations will determine which mitigation strategy(ies) are feasible on a property. The evaluations could include a property appraisal, completion of an elevation certificate, review of building construction detail and preliminary engineering designs. In addition, the county will help identify if the strategy(ies) would be eligible for FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) program funding and submit an application on behalf of the property owner for funding to help complete the actual work.

Property owners who can benefit most from the Floodplain Partners pilot program include:

• Properties that have experienced flood damage
• Properties that are or have been exposed to high amounts of erosion
• Properties located in the regulatory floodplain
• Properties in areas of high wildfire risk that are also near rivers or creeks (due to the risk of post-fire flooding)

Property owners can use the county’s online property search application to determine if their home is in the floodplain. Property owners interested in volunteering for the pilot program are encouraged to complete an online interest survey to help the county learn more. Those who complete the survey will be contacted by a program representative after review of the information.

For more information about Floodplain Partners, contact Stacey Proctor, project manager at 303-441-1107 or email. You can also visit the program website at boco.org/floodplain-partners.