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Study points to errors in flood plain
Published 6/30/2009 in Local News
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
Results of a study looking for errors in information used to argue that hundreds of properties in Finney County should be added to the flood plain is back, and the study found several errors that local officials hope will lead to a decrease in the number of properties in the flood plain.
One of the findings of the $23,000 study, done by Wilson & Co. of Salina, is that the flood plain maps were drawn using an incorrect mean annual precipitation of 22 inches for Ford County instead of the correct amount of mean annual precipitation of 19 inches for Finney County.
Among many other recommendations, the study recommends the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state update the hydrology information where incorrect rainfall data was used.
On Monday, City Manager Matt Allen and Kaleb Kentner, director of Planning and Community Development, reiterated that city and Finney County staff feel incorrect information was used in drawing the proposed flood plain maps that added Drainage Ditches No. 1 and 2 and nearby properties to the flood plain.
The study seems to reinforce that belief, they both said Monday.
The changes mean 936 properties plus 87 vacant lots in Garden City would be added to the 100-year flood plain and 934 properties and 181 vacant or agricultural parcels would be added in Finney County.
In addition to pointing out where Ford County data was used instead of Finney County, the study also shows that places in the information used to redraw the flood plain maps reference U.S. Highway 82 and not 83.
"It's crummy work," Allen said.
Allen said the study's findings of inaccuracy also point to the state and federal information gathered for the changes to the maps being "a big cut and paste exercise" in which information that is not accurate nor applicable to Finney County and Garden City led to 1,800 properties being included in the flood plain.
Allen, Kentner and other city staff also have said having the additional property in the flood plain will cost the community a lot of money. Individually, the cost of flood insurance and loss of property value is more than any property owner is going to want to pay, Allen said, but collectively, the more than 1,800 properties represents "gobs of money" that will be unnecessarily spent if the revised maps remain the same.
Kentner and Allen believe Kansas Department of Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky has the ability to change or stop the map modernization process before the Sept. 25 deadline city and county commissioners face. That deadline is when commissioners must decide whether to adopt the changes.
FEMA contracted with the Kansas Department of Agriculture's Division of Water Resources to update the maps. The Division of Water Resources then contracted with an outside engineering firm to work on the map revision. FEMA has put the state agriculture department in charge of the revisions, so that's where city and county officials are concentrating their efforts.
Where the city goes from here with the study's findings depends on what Polansky decides to do, Kentner said.
City and Finney County staff have sent the results of the study and a letter to Polansky. In the letter, city and Finney County staff, including Allen and County Administrator Pete Olson, state the city and county "fundamentally disagree with the inclusion of the manmade stormwater drainage ways within the special flood hazard area of the most recently proposed digital flood insurance rate map."
The reasons, the letter states, include:
- The manmade ditches, "which have been in existence for 50 years, have never been mapped since the city and county first adopted flood plain maps and regulations, neither in 1978, nor in the subsequent map updates in 1987 and 1997. Therefore, inclusion of the ditches is not consistent with the application of laws regarding flood plain management as they have been enforced in the past."
- "There was failure at the state and federal level to coordinate and consult with local long-range plans for responsible planned growth and extension of public infrastructure." Allen said the city and county had avoided significant growth in the area of the Arkansas River because it was already known the river and surrounding area was included in the flood plain. However, residential and commercial development has occurred around both ditches.
- "The economic impact on those households and businesses proposed to be included within the special flood hazard area is punitive and does not reflect the reality of the risk."
- "The economic impact to the city and county of more than 1,800 homes being identified as being within the flood plain is significant, and will cause an unnecessary drop in valuation and personal equity."
The letter goes on to state, "Someone had the authority to reverse 30 years of federal flood plain management in Garden City and Finney County and include the stormwater ditches in the flood insurance rate map. This subsequently places our community and individual citizens at tremendous economic risk. Surely there exists a person or agency who has the authority to review and reverse this inconsistent application of the law. We ask for your help in clarifying who has the authority to hear our case."
According to Kansas Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Lisa Taylor, the department still is reviewing the information provided by the city and study.
Taylor anticipated the secretary might be finished reviewing the information sometime next week.
Allen, Kentner and Olson take issue with the fact the ditches weren't included up to this point in the maps.
Allen feels the study points out the work done was "not up to par." While doing map revisions "on the cheap," might not have a major impact in a majority of communities, he said, Garden City is part of the 1 percent where it does, he said.
"At least have the decency to proofread," Allen said of some of the differences, including between Ford and Finney counties.
Kentner said the city would like to resolve the issue at the state level.
"If he (Polansky) chooses not to make this right, we have other avenues of redress," Allen said, explaining possibly other federal agencies can offer recourse.
Allen said the city's not ready, yet, to reveal other courses of action if the revised maps aren't resolved at the state level.
On the Web:
Download a copy of the preliminary flood plain study or the city's letter to Kansas Department of Agriculture Secretary Adrian Polansky.
Download a copy of FEMA's proposed revisions to the flood plain maps for Garden CityHolcomb. and
For more flood plain resources, see the city of Garden City's Web site at www.garden-city.org.
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