Sun, Jul 05, 2009
The Nicholsons, Kennedy, left, Aiden and Julie, may find their new house in the San Lucas subdivision in Marana redesignated as flood-plain property by FEMA. Homeowners in that situation who purchase Zone X flood insurance now will have the rate grandfathered in after the changes.
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Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.30.2007
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is revising flood maps for the entire country, which may mean some areas of Marana and Pima County that were considered safe could be designated as flood plains.
That, in turn, could force at least one Marana neighborhood to pay high premiums for flood insurance.
Though no official word is expected until late next month, Marana officials are speculating that some parts of town that had been removed from flood plains will be redesignated, based on information provided to the town by FEMA.
"We might be speaking prematurely, but what I'm hearing preliminarily is not good," Councilwoman Roxanne Ziegler said.
"This is another example of the government overstepping what I think is their right to come into cities and towns.
Marana Mayor Ed Honea received a letter July 20 from FEMA stating that the agency had done an overview of the area and determined that various structures within the town's limits fall under the definition of a levee.
Though these structures, which in Marana include the CAP canal, Interstate 10 and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, have the ability to hold back flood waters because they are raised off the ground, FEMA considers them unsafe because they weren't made for that purpose.
"They may operate like levees, but because they weren't built like them, they don't provide adequate flood protection, according to FEMA," town engineer Keith Brann said.
"They've identified these features, so we're looking with concern at those areas downstream of the features."
The CAP canal, which snakes through Marana from West Avra Valley Road on the southwest side of town, under I-10 at West Tangerine Road and up to the Pinal County line east of the freeway, poses the biggest concern.
The canal serves as the eastern boundary for San Lucas, an 800-home development east of the I-10/Marana Road interchange along West Cochie Canyon Trail.
Brann said the community used to be in Zone A, also known by FEMA as a Special Flood Hazard Area and commonly referred to as a 100-year flood plain, but in 2003 the developer secured a Letter of Map Revision to move this area out of Zone A and into Zone X.
The main difference between Zone A and Zone X: Owners of structures in Zone A are required to purchase flood insurance if they have a federally-backed mortgage, whereas those with Zone X structures do not.
Laurie Marchus, who moved into San Lucas with her family last month, said she might not have bought a home there had she known she was going to end up having to buy flood insurance.
"It's going to raise the amount of money it would cost me to live here," Marchus said.
Neighbor Edward Nicholson said he's seen at least four hard rains on his street in San Lucas since his family moved in last month, without any flooding.
"We were told it wasn't a flood plain," Nicholson said. "If they go back and say we are in (one) now, we shouldn't be required to pay."
Marana is not alone in terms of potential changes.
Brann said FEMA issued similar letters to all parts of the Southwest U.S. around the same time, starting a 90-day clock, by thee end of which each jurisdiction must supply FEMA with proof of which levees have provisionally accredited levee agreements.
For Marana, that would mean showing proof the Lower Santa Cruz Levee, which protects the Gladden Farms master-planned development, is accredited.
In Pima County, Bill Zimmerman of the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, said he is scrambling to collect information on all the 41 structures identified in the FEMA letter as levees or levee-like.
Some of those structures, such as flood-control structures along the Cañada del Oro, actually are levees, and Zimmerman said he doesn't expect any problems certifying those structures.
Others listed in FEMA's letter to the county, such as portions of Avra Valley Road that were elevated to prevent the road itself from being flooded, are not anywhere close to being levees because they weren't designed for that purpose.
The changes to the nation's flood maps is a process that began in 2005, said Ray Lenaburg, FEMA's mapping contact for Arizona.
Though speculation is that the changes were a direct response to the massive destruction caused by failed levees in the Gulf Coast region as a result of Hurricane Katrina, Lenaburg said a memorandum on studying and accrediting levees was issued a week before the storm hit U.S. soil.
"There were so many areas out there, levee systems, that were never certified," Lenaburg said. "Anything that impedes flow, it either needs to provide 100-year-flood protection, or we will draw flood plains as if those impediments did not exist."
As far as dealing with which areas will be redesignated as flood plains, Marana and Pima County are not expected to get their updated maps until Sept. 20.
● Contact reporter Brian J. Pedersen at bjp@azstarnet.com or call 434-4079.
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