What is Floodplain Management?

Floodplain management is the operation of a community program of corrective and preventative measures for reducing flood damage. A participating community can protect its citizens against much of the devastating financial loss resulting from flood disasters by employing wise floodplain management. These measures take a variety of forms and generally include requirements for zoning, subdivision or building, and special-purpose floodplain ordinances. The intent is to reduce flood damage by encouraging wise land use and watershed management practices, better coordinate actions between the natural and man-made environment, and encourage appropriate design and construction practices.

A community's agreement to adopt and enforce floodplain management ordinances, particularly with respect to new construction is an important element in making flood insurance available to home and business owners. Currently over 20,100 communities voluntarily adopt and enforce local floodplain management ordinances that provide flood loss reduction building standards for new and existing development.

What is a flood?

A flood is defined in the Standard Flood Insurance Policy (SFIP), in part, as: a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of two or more acres of a normally dry land area or of two or more properties (at least one of which is your property) from the overflow of inland waters from unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source, or from mudflow. Flood hazards include property damage, loss of life, and negative economic and environmental impacts.

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA), a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It enables property owners to buy flood insurance at a reasonable cost for properties in municipalities which are participating in the NFIP. The program not only promotes economic development through low cost insurance but also community development through land use regulations and floodplain management regulations to guide growth in and away from floodplains. Floodplain management regulations are codes and/or ordinances that a municipality adopts to provide standards for the use and development of land in floodplain areas. Such regulations can be included in zoning ordinances, subdivision and land development ordinances, building codes or special floodplain management ordinances that protect the health, safety and general welfare of the public in floodplain areas. Municipalities that have areas subject to flooding as determined by FEMA are required to participate in the NFIP under the Pennsylvania Floodplain Management Act of 1978.