Drafter
Clerk 1/17/2007
Title
AN ORDINANCE relating to river and floodplain management, adopting the 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan as a functional plan of the King County Comprehensive Plan; and amending Ordinance 11112, Section 1, and K.C.C. 20.12.480.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. Six major river systems flow through King County - the South Fork Skykomish, Snoqualmie, Sammamish, Cedar, Green and White rivers - and their significant tributaries, the Tolt, Raging, Miller and Greenwater rivers. Other tributaries and smaller streams include Tokul creek, Kimball creek, Coal creek (Snoqualmie), Issaquah creek, Fifteen Mile creek and Holder creek.
2. River and stream flooding impact private property, businesses, public and private infrastructure such as parks and utilities, transportation corridors, and can directly and indirectly result in loss of life.
3. King County adopted the policies of the 1993 Flood Hazard Reduction Plan as operating principles to guide King County's River Management Program and to meet the intent of the water and natural resource policies of the 1994, 2000 and 2004 King County Comprehensive Plans. The Flood Hazard Reduction Plan is listed as a functional plan of the King County Comprehensive Plan 2004 in Technical Appendix A (Capital Facilities).
4. The 2006 Flood Hazard Management Plan is an update to the 1993 Flood Hazard Reduction Plan to respond to aging flood protection infrastructure and unmet maintenance needs, new or updated federal regulatory requirements, environmental impacts of past flood hazard management practices and changes in watersheds since 1993.
5. The 2006 King County Flood Hazard Management Plan meets the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System, which provides a thirty-five-percent discount on federally-backed flood insurance premiums for unincorporated King County property owners. Saving are approximately two hundred eighty-three dollars per year ...

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