New FEMA maps change little about Barstow's flood risks

This story is updated to reflect a correction to the story posted Aug.1, 2008, which contained an incorrect deadline date for San Bernardino County's provisionally accredited levees to be accredited by FEMA.

BARSTOW — New flood insurance rate maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency represent no significant change for Barstow, FEMA officials said.

The maps, which will become effective August 28, were created as part of a map modernization process FEMA started in 2003, converting the documents to digital format so they can be accessed on the Web, said FEMA national hazards program specialist Frank Mansell.

The new maps do not appear to change flood insurance ratings for any Barstow properties, said Ray Lenaburg, branch chief of risk analysis for FEMA. Roni Edis, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County public works department, confirmed that the county saw no significant changes in the unincorporated area around Barstow. Contract city engineer Jim Mitsch had not yet reviewed the maps.

The only significant change on the Barstow maps is a warning note next to a levee on the Mojave River, on Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad property near Avenue H, Lenaburg said. The levee is provisionally accredited as providing protection in the event of a 100-year flood, a flood with a one-percent chance of occurring in any given year.

In order to get the levee fully accredited, the county must certify that the levee is structurally stable, provides protection at least three feet above the height that water would be expected to reach in a 100-year flood, and is being properly operated and maintained, Lenaburg said.

The deadline for all San Bernardino County levees to be accredited is August 8, 2009. After that point, the levees would lose their provisional accreditation and the surrounding area would be labeled a high flood-risk zone, requiring property owners to purchase flood insurance.

To have the levees accredited, the county must submit documentation showing that they meet federal standards, including certification by an engineer, according to a Sept. 27, 2007, letter from FEMA’s mitigation division to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.

Edis said the county has hired consultants to evaluate the levee in Barstow, along with other provisionally certified levees in the county and is on pace to meet the 2009 deadline.

The county must submit progress reports on the provisionally certified levees to FEMA by August 8.

Paper copies of the new flood insurance rate maps are available for public viewing at the City of Barstow at 220 E. Mountain View. Digital copies of the maps will be available on FEMA’s Web site at http://www.fema.gov/hazard/map/flood.shtm after August 28.

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