As floods ravage Park, Carbon and Stillwater Counties, reviewing the floodplains seems more timely than ever.
“These events can serve as a reminder to all of us that flooding remains one of the most costly and common natural disasters in our state,” said DNRC Floodplain Outreach Specialist Tiffany Lyden. “Even just one inch of water can cause $25,000 in damage to a home. Updating floodplain maps can help ensure homeowners and communities have good, accurate information to help protect themselves and better understand flood risks.”
Jefferson County and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will host two public open houses to share draft floodplain maps and speak one-on-one with landowners about the impact of the draft maps.
The meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, June 21 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Montana City Fire Station in Montana City and Thursday, June 23 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the County Fairgrounds Hall in Boulder.
“Updating floodplain maps is a key step in providing the best available data to help keep families, homes, roads and other infrastructure safe from future flood events,” Lyden said in a recent news release from Jefferson County.
Lyden has been working with Jefferson County Floodplain Administrator Megan Bullock and representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to produce new and updated floodplain maps in Jefferson County.
“Most of Jefferson County’s existing floodplain maps are based off information from the 1970s,” Lyden said in the release. “Some areas in the northern part of Jefferson County were never studied in the past and don’t have maps identifying flood hazard areas.”
The upcoming meetings will focus on reviewing new draft floodplain maps in the northern and central parts of Jefferson County. According to the news release, the floodplain studies involved use “high-accuracy topographic information, updated hydrology data and modern engineering methods to accurately identify and map areas at risk of flooding during a 100-year flood event, also known as a 1% annual chance flood event.”
The draft floodplain maps will undergo a lengthy technical and public review process before being finalized.
“We want to give landowners an early look at the information and the draft maps,” Bullock said in the release. “Updating our existing floodplain maps will take several years and public review is an important part of the process.”
Additional public meetings will be scheduled later in the summer to share draft maps for the southern portion of the county. More information about the floodplain mapping project, the draft maps and proposed changes can be found online at www.floodplain.mt.gov/jefferson. Those interested can also contact Bullock at (406) 225-4126 or mbullock@jeffersoncounty-mt.gov. Lyden can be reached at (406) 444-0599 or tlyden@mt.gov.
