WASHINGTON COUNTY, RHODE ISLAND (ALL JURISDICTIONS) VOLUME 1 OF 2 COMMUNITY NAME COMMUNITY NUMBER CHARLESTOWN, TOWN OF 445395 EXETER, TOWN OF 440032 HOPKINTON, TOWN OF 440028 NARRAGANSETT INDIAN TRIBE 445414 NARRAGANSETT, TOWN OF 445402 NEW SHOREHAM, TOWN OF 440036 NORTH KINGSTOWN, TOWN OF 445404 RICHMOND, TOWN OF 440031 SOUTH KINGSTOWN, TOWN OF 445407 Washingtton County WESTERLY, TOWN OF 445410 Revised: October 16, 2013 Federal Emergency Management Ageency FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY NUMBER 44009CV001B NOTICE TO FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY USERS Communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program have established repositories of flood hazard data for floodplain management and flood insurance purposes. This Flood Insurance Study (FIS) may not contain all data available within the repository. It is advisable to contact the community repository for any additional data. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may revise and republish part or all of this FIS report at any time. In addition, FEMA may revise part of this FIS report by the Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) process, which does not involve republication or redistribution of the FIS report. Therefore, users should consult community officials and check the Community Map Repository to obtain the most current FIS components. Initial Countywide FIS Effective Date: October 19, 2010 Revised Countywide FIS Date: October 16, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS – Volume 1 – October 16, 2013 Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Purpose of Study 1 1.2 Authority and Acknowledgments 1 1.3 Coordination 4 2.0 AREA STUDIED 5 2.1 Scope of Study 5 2.2 Community Description 6 2.3 Principal Flood Problems 10 2.4 Flood Protection Measures 18 3.0 ENGINEERING METHODS 20 3.1 Riverine Hydrologic Analyses 21 3.2 Riverine Hydraulic Analyses 28 3.3 Coastal Hydrologic Analyses 33 3.4 Coastal Hydraulic Analyses 35 3.5 Vertical Datum 57 4.0 FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS 58 4.1 Floodplain Boundaries 58 4.2 Floodways 59 5.0 INSURANCE APPLICATIONS 73 6.0 FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP 74 7.0 OTHER STUDIES 77 8.0 LOCATION OF DATA 77 9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 77-84 i TABLE OF CONTENTS – Volume 1 – continued Page FIGURES Figure 1 – Transect Schematic 38 Figure 2 – Transect Location Map 50 Figure 3 – Floodway Schematic 73 TABLES Table 1 – Initial, Intermediate, and Final CCO Meetings 4 Table 2 – Flooding Sources Studied by Detailed Methods 5 Table 3 – Letters of Map Change 5-6 Table 4 – High-Water Mark Elevations 13-14 Table 5 – Summary of Discharges 25-28 Table 6 – Manning's "n" Values 29-30 Table 7 – Summary of Coastal Stillwater Elevations 34 Table 8 – Transect Descriptions 39-49 Table 9 – Transect Data 51-57 Table 10 – Floodway Data 61-72 Table 11 – Community Map History 75-76 TABLE OF CONTENTS – Volume 2 – October 16, 2013 EXHIBITS Exhibit 1 - Flood Profiles Annaquatucket River Panels 01P-08P Ashaway River Panel 09P Canonchet Brook Panels 10P-11P Canonchet Brook Tributary Panels 12P-13P ii TABLE OF CONTENTS – Volume 2 – continued EXHIBITS - continued Exhibit 1 - Flood Profiles - continued Chipuxet River Panels 14P-16P Mastuxet Brook Panels 17P-19P Mattatuxet River Panels 20P-22P Mile Brook Panel 23P Pawcatuck River Panels 24P-34P Queens Fort Brook Panels 35P-38P Quidnessett Brook Panels 39P-40P Sand Hill Brook/Saw Mill Brook Panels 41P-45P Saugatucket River Panels 46P-48P Tomaquag Brook Panels 49P-50P Wood River Panels 51P-54P Exhibit 2 - Flood Insurance Rate Map Index Flood Insurance Rate Map iii FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY WASHINGTON COUNTY, RHODE ISLAND (ALL JURISDICTIONS) 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Study This countywide Flood Insurance Study (FIS) investigates the existence and severity of flood hazards in, or revises and updates previous FISs/Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for the geographic area of Washington County, Rhode Island, including the Towns of Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown, Westerly, and lands designated for the Narragansett Indian Tribe (hereinafter referred to collectively as Washington County). This FIS aids in the administration of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. This FIS has developed flood risk data for various areas of the county that will be used to establish actuarial flood insurance rates. This information will also be used by Washington County to update existing floodplain regulations as part of the Regular Phase of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and will also be used by local and regional planners to further promote sound land use and floodplain development. Minimum floodplain management requirements for participation in the NFIP are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations at 44 CFR, 60.3. In some States or communities, floodplain management criteria or regulations may exist that are more restrictive or comprehensive than the minimum Federal requirements. In such cases, the more restrictive criteria take precedence and the State (or other jurisdictional agency) will be able to explain them. 1.2 Authority and Acknowledgments The sources of authority for this FIS are the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. The October 19, 2010 FIS (Reference 1) was prepared to include the incorporated communities within Washington County in a countywide format. Information on the authority and acknowledgments for each jurisdiction included in the 2010 countywide FIS, as compiled from their previously printed FIS reports, is shown below. Charlestown, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated June 17, 1986, represent a revision of the original analyses by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The original work was completed in 1972. The updated version was prepared by Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation for FEMA, under Contract No. EMW-C- 0405. That work was completed in November 1983. 1 Exeter, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated September 1, 1981, were prepared by Harris-Toups Associates for FEMA under Contract No. H-4776. That work was completed in June 1980. Hopkinton, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated September 16, 1980, were prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Federal Insurance Administration (FIA), under Inter-Agency Agreement No. IAA-H-9-77, Project Order No. 10, Amendment Nos. 1 and 2. That work was completed in June 1979. Narragansett, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated May 1, 1984, represent a revision of the original analyses performed for FEMA. The updated version was prepared by PRC Harris, Inc., for FEMA, under Contract No. H-4776. That work was completed in July 1981. The wave height and wave runup analyses were also prepared by PRC Harris, Inc., for FEMA and were completed in March 1983. New Shoreham, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated October 3, 1984, were performed by PRC Harris, Inc., for FEMA, under Contract No. H- 4776. That work was completed in July 1981. The wave height and wave runup analyses were also performed by PRC Harris, Inc., under Modification M010 to Contract No. H-4776. That work was completed in April 1983. North Kingstown, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated December 5, 1989, represent a revision of the original analyses by the USACE for FEMA under Inter-Agency Agreement No. IAA-H-8-71 P05. The first revision was prepared by Harris-Toups Associates under agreement with FEMA. That study was completed in May 1980. The wave height analyses for that study were prepared by Dewberry & Davis, under Contract No. EMW-C-0543. That work was completed in July 1981. In the second revision, approximate floodplain boundaries for a swamp area were redelineated. That work was carried out by Dewberry & Davis. 2 Richmond, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated May 1980 were performed by the USGS for the FIA under Inter-Agency Agreement No. IAA- H-9-77, Project Order No. 30. That work was completed in June 1979. South Kingstown, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated January 3, 1986, represent a revision of the original analyses by the USACE. The original work was completed in 1971. The updated version was prepared by Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation for FEMA under Contract No. EMW-C- 0405. The updated work was completed in December 1983. Westerly, Town of: the hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated February 5, 1986, represent a revision of the original analyses performed by the USACE for FEMA under Inter-Agency Agreement No. IAA-H-8- 71. The updated version was prepared by Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation for FEMA under Contract No. EMW-C-0405. That work was completed in October 1981. The Authority and Acknowledgements for the Narragansett Indian Tribe lands were taken from the Town of Charlestown FIS report dated June 17, 1986 (Reference 2). For the 2010 countywide study FIRM panels, planimetric base map information shown was provided in digital format by Rhode Island Geographic Information System (RI GIS). This information was derived from digital orthophotos produced at a scale of 1:5,000 with 2-foot Ground Sample Distance (GSD) from photography dated 2003 and 2004 (Reference 3). The coordinate system used for the production of FIRM panels for the 2010 study was Rhode Island State Plane, North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83), GRS80 spheroid. Corner coordinates shown on the FIRM are in latitude and longitude referenced to the Rhode Island State Plane FIPZONE 3800, NAD 83, GRS80. Differences in datum, spheroid, projection or State Plane zones used in the production of FIRMs for adjacent jurisdictions may result in slight positional differences in map features across jurisdiction boundaries.