Flood Prevention Zoning Strategies
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires local governments to participate in a federal flood prevention program to make homeowners eligible for federal flood insurance. All of Connecticut’s municipalities have adopted some form of flood prevention regulations – either as ordinances adopted by their legislative bodies or as zoning and subdivision regulations adopted by their planning and zoning commissions. This report summarizes the findings of a review of all municipal flood prevention regulations in Connecticut to identify best practices and areas where municipal regulations have failed to keep pace with rapidly changing meteorological and climate change conditions. This report reviews current flood prevention administrative practices, the degree to which compensatory flood storage policies have been adopted consistent with a 2004 state law, current municipal base flood elevation standards, and policies governing septic system leaching fields within the 100-year floodplain and near watercourses.
