A Flood Insurance Study revision has recently been completed in incorporated and unincorporated King County.

This revision was done through a cooperating technical partnership between King County, Snohomish County, FEMA, and Northwest Hydraulic Consultants, Inc. It includes updated floodplain maps showing areas that would be inundated by the base (100-year) flood as well as the regulatory floodway.

These new geo-spatially referenced digital maps will be used by lending institutions and insurance agents in determining who must purchase flood insurance and the cost of that insurance should it be necessary. In addition, the maps will be used by city and county officials for floodplain management and permitting purposes.

The basic changes in this revision include new geo-spatial or “digital” compatibility for use with local geographic information systems, new hydrology, and hydraulic modeling along the Snoqualmie River from the falls downstream to the confluence with the Skykomish River near Monroe.

The maps will also use a vertical datum projection based on NAVD 88 and follow a map panel layout based on the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute quadrangle map grid.

The people most directly affected by the issuance of this study are those owning property and/or living in the identified flood hazard areas, such as along the Snoqualmie River.

Interested persons are invited to attend a meeting at the Carnation Elementary School on October 24, 2007 from 6 – 8 p.m. Representatives from King County, FEMA and local communities will be on hand to discuss the study and its affects on ongoing local development.