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Floodplain Information
Spokane County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). This allows property owners to purchase insurance against flood losses. It also allows Spokane County to be eligible for federal disaster aid should a flood-related disaster be declared here. To participate in this program Spokane County must maintain and enforce a Flood Damage Protection Code meeting the requirements of FEMA and the State of Washington. The Division of Engineering and Roads administers this code for the unincorporated areas of Spokane County.
Spokane County’s Flood Damage Protection Code regulates any development that will occur on property all or a portion of which is determined by FEMA to be in a floodplain. Development includes, but is not limited to buildings, homes, manufactured and mobile homes, other structures, bridges, culverts, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation, docks, boat lifts, seawalls, bulkheads, etc. Any development on a parcel which contains floodplain will require a Floodplain Development Permit.
To be issued a Floodplain Development Permit you must first complete a Floodplain Development Permit Application. This application contains information regarding your project that will assist in identifying the specific requirements for your proposed project.
For some projects an Environmental Checklist or JARPA may also be required. For example if you are working below the ordinary high water line or if you are placing more than 500 CY of fill. The Environmental Checklist must go through a review process to determine if the project will have a significant impact on the environment. A Determination of Non-Significance must be issued before a Floodplain Development Permit can be issued.
For any questions regarding the Flood Damage Protection Code or Floodplain Development Permits please contact the Spokane County Environmental Programs Department.
Phone: 509-477-3600
Floodplain Information:
Email: Floodplains@spokanecounty.org
Phone: 509-477-3600
Final DFIRMs along with an updated Flood Insurance Study (FIS) have been issued by FEMA and were effective July 6, 2010. Click here for additional information and to review the final DFIRM map panels.
Westhaven PUD
Letter of Map Revision
Spokane County in accordance with National Flood Insurance Program regulation 65.7(b)(1), hereby gives notice of the County's intent to permit a revision of the flood hazard information including the floodway, beginning at a location approximately 280-300 feet south of the intersection of Wall Street and Jay Ave, and terminating at W Barnes Rd. The floodway is the portion of the floodplain that includes the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land area that must be reserved in order to discharge the 1-percent-annual-chance (base) flood without cumulatively increasing the water-surface elevation by more than a designated height.
The flood hazard information will be revised along the Country Homes Drainage Path as shown in the map below. As a result of the revision, the floodway will narrow, the 1-percent-annual-chance water-surface elevations shall decrease, and the 1-percent-annual-chance floodplain will narrow within the area of revision. These revisions are due to flood channel modifications within the Westhaven PUD plat and reductions in peak flows due to previously approved County revision along Country Homes Blvd and the County’s Price and Wall Stormwater facility.
This LOMR is being initiated due to updated topographic mapping of the revised conditions and revised hydrologic data within the floodplain. Approval of the request would allow the property owners to utilize that area within the effective FHPA, but which is outside the modeled existing floodplain. These revisions are intended to protect a platted area adjacent to the effective FHPA. The channel slopes are now more easily maintained, provide better erosion protection, and are more aesthetically in keeping with the suburban nature of the neighborhood.