FEMA flood maps for north Sutter won't arrive until 2011
Year's delay in higher insurance premiums could save residents $20 million
Sticker shock for Sutter County flood insurance won't arrive for at least two years and possibly longer, a delay that local flood-control officials say could collectively save residents about $20 million a year.
Final federal flood-hazard maps for northern Sutter County once planned to take effect next year will not be released until the end of 2011, the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency announced Monday.
Preliminary charts released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency are expected to place virtually the whole county in high-risk zones, boosting insurance premiums fourfold. FEMA is expected to strip county levees along the Feather River of their certification to withstand a once-in-a-century peak flood.
Only the Sutter Buttes, the town of Sutter and the Pleasant Grove area would escape the insurance hikes.
With the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency preparing to go to voters next spring for a bond issue to overhaul levees, the federal delay gives homeowners a valuable breather, according to Dan Peterson, Sutter County chief of water resources.
The expected $20 million savings "is just a saving on insurance premiums, not reflecting other benefits like not being subject to special construction standards," he said.
FEMA began re-evaluating levees nationwide after Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed the New Orleans flood-control network in August 2005, killing more than 1,800 people and causing $90 billion in damage.
Updated hazard maps took effect for Sutter County south of Stewart Road in December 2008, and draft maps for the northern portion of the county were to appear the following April. But the county requested a delay to let California finish its own topographical study to more accurately learn which areas a major flood would inundate.
State mapping work also will decide whether Sutter County will face building curbs under Senate Bill 5, which takes effect in 2015. The law will ban most building permits in areas not protected against a 200-year peak flood.
The mapping delay comes as the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency seeks support for a property assessment to help fund a 31-mile levee improvement on Feather's west bank, from Yuba City to the Thermalito Afterbay near Oroville.
Officials say the upgrades would restore 100-year flood protection to most county residents, bring down insurance rates and avert building curbs. Federal and state funding would total about $130 million if local governments can raise another $80 million in bonds.
Property owners in Sutter County and southern Butte County likely will start receiving ballots in March to start a 45-day mail-in vote on the assessment, said Kim Floyd, spokeswoman for the flood-control agency.
Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune at 749-4708 or hyune@appealdemocrat.com
