Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Draft floodplain maps are now available from a large-scale, multi-county project to conduct flood studies on portions of the Jefferson, Madison, Beaverhead, Ruby, and South Boulder Rivers, and Indian and Mill Creeks. Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin and Broadwater Counties have been coordinating with Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct the flood studies and produce new and updated floodplain maps.
The draft maps show the extent of the 100-year floodplain, representing areas at risk of being flooded in a 100 year-flood event, also known as a flood event that has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year.
The counties and DNRC will be hosting several virtual open house meetings (via Zoom) to provide an overview of the draft maps and discuss proposed floodplain map changes with landowners. Each virtual meeting will have a different focus area:
• March 9, 5:30-7pm (Madison River)
• March 10, 5:30-7pm (Jefferson River and S. Boulder River)
• March 11, 5:30-7pm (Ruby & Beaverhead Rivers, Sheridan and Twin Bridges)
The public can register and participate via Zoom using the link: http://bit.ly/MadJeffOH. Draft floodplain maps and more information can be viewed online: http://www.floodplain.mt.gov/madison
The existing floodplain maps along the length of the Jefferson River are from a mix of different sources. “On the Jefferson County side of the Jefferson River our existing floodplain maps are coarse, generalized FEMA maps based on information from the late 1970s” said Megan Bullock, Jefferson County Sanitarian and Floodplain Administrator.
Across the county border, on the south side of the Jefferson River, Madison County utilizes generalized flood prone maps from 1997. Further downstream, Broadwater and Gallatin Counties’ maps for the Jefferson River are FEMA floodplain maps based on different study years, including 1980 and 2004, as well as some areas mapped as having an ‘undetermined flood risk’. “New flood studies provide the opportunity for updated, consistent, and more detailed information for landowners and counties” said Bullock.
The new floodplain studies use high-accuracy topographic information, updated hydrology data and modern engineering methods to model and map flood risk areas. The draft floodplain maps will undergo a technical and public review process before being finalized.
More information and a draft map viewer can be found online: http://www.floodplain.mt.gov/madison. For questions contact: Megan Bullock, Jefferson County Floodplain Administrator, mbullock@jeffersoncounty-mt.gov, 406-225-4126, Tiffany Lyden, DNRC Floodplain Outreach Specialist tlyden@mt.gov 406-444-0599, or Nadene Wadsworth, DNRC Floodplain Outreach Specialist, Nadene.wadsworth@mt.gov 406-444-6732.
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