Vail Valley Neighborhood Proactive in Mitigating Flood Zones

EagleVail, Colorado – October 2, 2013 - In a proactive move to protect its residents from flooding, the Community of EagleVail has partnered with Eagle County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to improve drainage from Stone Creek that flows into the community. FEMA’s Flood Mitigation Assistance program, through the Colorado Division of Local Affairs, has provided a grant of $240,000 to EagleVail, with $30,000 funded by the community, and $30,000 from Eagle County’s Capital Improvements Program Funding.

“This has been an ongoing issue for EagleVail residents in the last five or six years, since flood issues have been brought into the public spotlight,” said EagleVail Community Manager Jeff Layman. “Owners found themselves in a flood plain and were forced to purchase flood insurance, even though the area would not have been affected by stream flow. Now that the community has been re-mapped, additional flood zones have been identified. The FEMA grant will help mitigate the related issues for our community and its residents.”

What began as a simple home financing project for one EagleVail resident turned in a drawn out flood issue for the whole community of EagleVail, which is located in the heart of the Vail Valley in between Vail Mountain and Beaver Creek Mountain. For the next year, Eagle County’s Engineering Department worked with EagleVail to re-map the area, but then found a different area of the community was then rezoned for flooding. With additional owners now having to purchase flood insurance, EagleVail’s homeowners association knew it was time to take further action.

EagelVail then returned to Eagle County Senior Engineer Greg Schroeder for assistance. Through the Colorado Division of Local Affairs, Schroeder was able to help EagleVail apply for, and ultimately won, a FEMA project grant to implement measures to reduce flood losses, such as elevation, acquisition, or relocation of NFIP-insured structures.

EagleVail is currently working with Eagle County to remove approximately 12 structures from the High Risk Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and over 50 structures from a Moderate Risk Shaded Zone X. Additional measures will be taken to improve stream flow and the channel of the creek, using the golf course as an overflow structure to allow the water to drain without flooding people’s homes.

“We want the people to know that work being done around the golf course is not improving the golf course per se, but making the homeowners less prone to flooding,” said Layman. “When this project is completed later this fall, nearly all of the EagleVail home owners will be out of the flood plain.”

For more information about FEMA’s flood mitigation assistance programs, visit www.fema.gov. For more information about the Community of EagleVail’s flood mitigation project, please contact us at (970) 790-1219 or info@eaglevail.org.

The Community of EagleVail– Live, Play, Relax, Enjoy. For more information, call (970) 949-5400 or visit www.eaglevail.org.

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