Colorado can now be counted among the handful of states committed to limiting flood damage by strengthening statewide floodplain rules. The state’s new rules, passed by the Colorado Water Conservation Board Monday, aim to protect property and increase public safety by making existing Colorado standards more robust.

“Right now we have a system that rewards negative behavior,” said legal expert Ed Thomas, who testified on behalf of the Natural Hazards Center, the Association of State Floodplain Managers, and the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association. “This is very much a step in the right direction.”

Among the changes are freeboard rules for new or substantially changed structures in the 100-year floodplain. Critical facilities must now be flood proofed or elevated to two feet above the 100-year flood; most other construction must meet a one-foot freeboard requirement.

The most controversial of the changes, however, was a move to base mapping of the "regulatory floodway" on a more restrictive six-inch-rise standard. Present Federal Emergency Management Agency standards define the floodway as the area that must be kept free of obstructions so that 100-year floodwaters will not rise by more than 1 foot anywhere in the community.

Although the rule will only apply to future physical map revisions and doesn’t prohibit building in floodplains, some municipalities and industry associations saw it as too restrictive for development. They also feared that limiting development in the floodplain could leave them open to lawsuits claiming an unconstitutional “taking” of the property’s value without compensation (an analysis of the likelihood of these claims by Thomas can be found here).

“Although the rules say you can build there, you really can’t without breaking the rules,” said Greeley Mayor Tom Norton. “Greeley is going to pay for this and get no benefit.”

Other Colorado cities, such as Boulder and Fort Collins, supported the changes, saying stricter standards they’ve already adopted haven’t been litigated and leave the community safer. The creation of a statewide standard also eliminates confusion about differences between FEMA and municipal standards and could garner National Flood Insurance Program discounts for residents.

“Statewide standards would be really helpful because we could get FEMA to map to them,” said Monica Bortolini, an Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority flood official who spoke during public comment. “The minimum standards really are minimum.”

The enhanced rules are the result of an exhaustive two-year process that included regional workshops, numerous public meetings, and an advisory and focus committee, according to CWCB Senior Engineer Kevin Houck. The CWCB started down the long road to new rules after years of hearing residents' concerns ranging from worries about catastrophic flooding to complaints about taxpayer bailouts of those who had built irresponsibly in floodplains, Houck said. Monetary losses—an average of $57 million a year in Colorado—also highlighted the need.

“In a state the size of Colorado, we have 100-year events every year in our state,” Houck said. “It’s unbelievable what a natural disaster can do to an economy.”

Although the CWCB recognized the need to make the changes, the new rules allow officials to gradually put them into effect. Local governments will have up to three years to make ordinance changes, new mapping is not required, and a variance process—to be initiated at the local level with Board oversight—allows for a case-by-case analysis when needed. Communities may also grandfather un-built projects they've already approved.

The final result is a far-reaching program that should result in a safer public and less financial loss, but the return on investment won’t be immediate, said CWCB Flood Protection Section Chief Tom Browning.

“These rules are meant to be a long term solution,” Browning said. “This is not an overnight fix.”