Flood Control Zone District
Flood Hazard Reduction
Program
The goal of Whatcom County's Flood Hazard Reduction Program
is to implement projects that will reduce future flood damages
and public expenditures to repair damaged areas. The comprehensive
flood hazard management planning efforts identify projects implemented
under this program. The planning process involves: characterization
of flood problems, evaluation of alternatives to solve the problems,
and identification of an overall plan identifying specific projects
to reduce future flood damages and expenditures.
Once a plan is adopted, identified projects are developed and
implemented under the county's Flood Hazard Reduction Program.
The development of flood hazard reduction projects within the
context of comprehensive flood hazard management planning ensures
problems are not transferred to another location within the basin
and that project implementation will result in a long-term reduction
in flood damages and public expenditures throughout the basin.
| Repetitive flood loss property on Marine Drive
before and after acquisition project: |
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The process of project implementation includes detailed analysis
and design, permitting, and construction. Flood hazard reduction
projects can be either structural or nonstructural in nature.
Examples of structural
measures considered for the Lower Nooksack River include the
construction of setback levees and overflow spillways, and
designation of overflow corridors in overbank areas. The
primary flood hazard reduction project in the Saar Creek basin,
addressing long-term flood problems,was the construction of
a sediment trap.
Nonstructural flood hazard reduction projects include acquisition,
relocation, and elevation of flood-prone structures. The
repetitive flood loss acquisition project is an example of this
type of project.
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