Biggs, Gridley no longer flood risks

Biggs and Gridley area residents have been removed from the high-hazard flood zone map, freeing them from federal mandates for flood insurance and allowing the cities to move forward with growth, city officials said.

Biggs had earlier requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency reclassify the city based on the area's remote likelihood for significant flooding. The area last flooded in 1955 and based on flow characteristics, land slope topography, Biggs would not flood regardless of levees, said City Engineer David Swartz.

FEMA representative Kathleen Schaefer met with Butte County, Biggs, Gridley and Chico engineers in Oroville on Thursday and said the south county areas that were formerly classified as a 100-year flood risk will now be categorized as a 500-year flood risk, a 100-year flood risk with water depths of less than 1 foot or protected by levees from 100-year floods.

The reclassification could change in the next few years when the Department of Water Resources establishes base flood elevations for the areas. But for now it eliminates or delays the requirement for mandatory flood insurance set to take effect in spring 2010.

Earlier estimates indicated that when the mandate takes effect, a policy on a $250,000 house in Gridley and Biggs would rise from $348 a year to a minimum of $849, with coverage for belongings costing about $500 extra. Those buying flood insurance after the new maps take effect would pay $1,555 annually.

Live Oak, Yuba City and other parts of the Yuba-Sutter region remain in the high-risk flood zone designation.