Improving the Indiana Flood Control Act

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Improving the Indiana Flood Control Act To Save
Money, Protect Property, and Conserve Resources
October 5, 2004
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The Indiana Flood Control Act was adopted in 1945
with the goal of protecting people and property
from floodwaters. It achieves this goal by
limiting human occupancy and buildings in
floodways, which are the lands adjacent to rivers
and streams that carry floodwaters.
October 5, 2004
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The Act regulates development in floodways by
requiring state permits before construction
occurs. Certain activities, such as construction
of new residences, are prohibited by this law
(except for the Ohio River floodway). No project
will be approved if it adversely affects the
ability of the floodway to carry floodwaters,
poses a threat to public safety, or would be
unreasonably harmful to fish, wildlife, and
botanical resources.
October 5, 2004
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• The laws goal is just as relevant today, if not
  more so. Flood damage to property is increasing.
  
• The National Association of Floodplain Managers
  states that annual flood damages in the U.S.
  total 6 billion, a six fold increase since the
  early 1900s. This organization promotes a No
  adverse impact policy that declares that the
  actions of one property owner should not increase
  the flood risk of other property owners.

October 5, 2004
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IC 14-8-2-102"Floodway"      Sec. 102.
"Floodway", for purposes of IC 14-28-1,
IC 14-28-3, and IC 14-34, means        (1) the
channel of a river or stream and        (2) the
parts of the flood plain adjoining the channel
that are reasonably required to efficiently carry
and discharge the flood water or flood flow of a
river or stream.
October 5, 2004
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Flooding Costs In Indiana Federal Insurance
Payments 2003 2004 38 million 6
million Source Federal Emergency Management
Agency
October 5, 2004
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• Flooding Costs In Indiana
• Local Infrastructure Repair Replacement
• 2003
• Over 4.5 million in unreimbursed claims for
  public assistance by Indiana local governments
  (11 counties)
• Source State Emergency Management Agency

October 5, 2004
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Flooding along White River, West Fork at 116th
St. 2002
October 5, 2004
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Wabash River Geneva July 1998
October 5, 2004
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Highway 105 Whitley County July 1997
October 5, 2004
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More Than 1,000 Homes Damaged by Indiana
Floods Written by Mason Booth , Staff Writer,
RedCross.org Friday, July 11, 2003 Exhausted
residents battling widespread flooding in
northern and central Indiana finally received
some good news on Thursday (July 10). The days
downpours were predicted to be the last in a
string of severe storms that have battered the
region for nearly a week. However, the waning
threat proved little comfort for many families
reeling from the recent disaster, which so far
has damaged or destroyed more than 1,000 homes in
15 counties.

October 5, 2004
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• Fish, Wildlife Botanical Damages
• Direct destruction or disturbance of high quality
  floodplain, shoreline, and aquatic habitats for
  mammals, songbirds, waterfowl, herptiles and fish
• Loss of runoff buffering capacity of floodways,
  meaning more pollutants reach the water

October 5, 2004
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Wildlife Resources Along Rivers Streams

Mammals
October 5, 2004
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Wildlife Resources Along Rivers Streams

Waterfowl
October 5, 2004
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Wildlife Resources Along Rivers Streams

Herons
Birds of Prey
October 5, 2004
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Wildlife Resources in Rivers Streams

Sport fish
October 5, 2004
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Outdoor Recreation Along Rivers Streams

Mammals
October 5, 2004
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Purdue News July 11, 2003 Land development the
big source of flooding problems, expert says WEST
LAFAYETTE, Ind. While recent rains continue to
swell waterways, long-term changes in our natural
landscapes are more responsible for the current
flooding problems in the Midwest, according to
Purdue University land-use experts.

October 5, 2004
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Purdue News July 11, 2003 "Development and
farming practices have reduced the natural
buffers around streams by nearly 70 percent
nationally," said Brent Ladd, Purdue Extension
water quality specialist. These buffer areas
wetlands and wooded areas that naturally occur
adjacent to streams and rivers act as sponges
to soak up excess water, like what has fallen
across much of the Midwest in the past week.

October 5, 2004
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Purdue News July 11, 2003 Studies show that
without the natural buffer areas, water runoff in
developed urban areas increases by a factor of up
to 16 times, according to Ladd. His own
investigation found water runoff in an Indiana
watershed containing 80 percent agricultural
lands was eight times greater than in naturally
buffered areas.

October 5, 2004
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Reducing natural buffers around waterways
increases the amount of flood damage sustained by
communities, according to Purdue University
land-use experts. Crops and developments in a
river flood plain, like this farmland under the
waters of the Wabash River near Lafayette, Ind.,
will occasionally succumb to flooding and
increase problems downriver, according to Brent
Ladd, Purdue Extension water quality specialist.
(Purdue Agricultural Communications photo/Tom
Campbell)
October 5, 2004
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• Recommendations for Improving the Indiana Flood
  Control Act
• No fill allowed in floodways beyond de minimus
  amount
• (an amount of fill which causes less than a .01
  foot increase in the level of the regulatory
  flood)
• Exceptions for public bridge crossings, access
  roads, small dams

October 5, 2004
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• Recommendations for Improving the Indiana Flood
  Control Act  
• Flood conveyance channels or other structural
  alterations should not be allowed to offset the
  hydraulic effects of obstructions in floodways
• Exceptions
• Public works flood control projects with public
  benefits

October 5, 2004
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• Recommendations for Improving the Indiana Flood
  Control Act   
• The cumulative impact review provision should be
  strengthened by explicitly declaring that the 3
  part review of permit applications under Sec. 22
  (e) includes both the instant application as well
  as the consideration of cumulative effects under
  22 (f). Also the Indiana Administrative Code
  definition of cumulative effects should be added
  to the statute.

October 5, 2004
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• Recommendations for Improving the Indiana Flood
  Control Act
• Prohibit use of waste/used materials for bank
  stabilization or fill (for ex., used/broken
  concrete, power plant wastes)

October 5, 2004
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• Recommendations for Improving the Indiana Flood
  Control Act
• Incorporate a two strikes policy that requires
  a permit application be denied if after two
  attempts the permit application is incomplete or
  contains modeling demonstrating an unacceptable
  surcharge.

October 5, 2004
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• Recommendations for Improving the Indiana Flood
  Control Act
• Increase incentives for landowners to protect
  riparian buffers and floodways, through
• Farmland preservation easements
• Floodplain easements
• Assistance for buffer plantings
• Expanding the tax credit for classified riparian
  areas

October 5, 2004
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The Indiana DNR and DEM should prepare a
Statewide Flood Risk and Flood Damage Assessment
that (1)     Quantifies annual flood damages in
Indiana, including flood insurance claims and
payments, liabilities of state and local
government, other costs (2)     Identifies
properties that are most at risk from flood
damage (3)     Assesses statewide trends in flood
flows and flood storage capacity, and what
factors are affecting these trends (4)    
Assesses environmental conditions along Indianas
floodways.  

October 5, 2004
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Benefits of Improved Indiana Flood Control Act

• Restoring River Bottomlands that provide
• Hardwood timber
• Water quality improvement
• Outdoor Recreation
• Shoreline stabilization
• Potential carbon credits for electric utilities

October 5, 2004
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Benefits of Improved Indiana Flood Control
Act Beneficial Land Uses
   

• Farming
• Timber harvesting
• Recreation
• Passive parks
• Athletic fields
• Nature areas
• Fishing and hunting

October 5, 2004