Flood Insurance Study
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA AND INCORPORATED AREAS COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NAME NUMBER Arlington ARLINGTON COUNTY County (UNINCORPORATED AREAS) 515520 Federal Emergency Management Agency FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY NUMBER 51013CV000A 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. Part or all of this FIS may be revised and republished at any time. In addition, part of this FIS may be revised by the Letter of Map Revision process, which does not involve republication or redistribution of the FIS. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the user to consult with community officials and to check the community repository to obtain the most current FIS components. Selected Flood Insurance Rate Map Panels for this community contain information that was previously shown separately on the corresponding Flood Boundary and Floodway Map panels (e.g. floodways, cross-sections). In addition, former flood hazard zones designations have been changed as follows: Old Zones New Zones A1 through A30 AE B X C X Initial Countywide FIS Effective Date: [TBD] TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Purpose of Study 1 1.2 Authority and Acknowledgments 1 1.3 Coordination 2 2.0 AREA STUDIED 3 2.1 Scope of Study 3 2.2 Community Description 5 2.3 Principal Flood Problems 6 2.4 Flood Protection Measures 8 3.0 ENGINEERING METHODS 8 3.1 Hydrologic Analyses 8 3.2 Hydraulic Analyses 11 3.3 Vertical Datum 14 4.0 FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS 15 4.1 Floodplain Boundaries 15 4.2 Floodways 15 5.0 INSURANCE APPLICATIONS 25 6.0 FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP 25 7.0 OTHER STUDIES 26 8.0 LOCATION OF DATA 26 9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 26 i TABLE OF CONTENTS – continued Page FIGURES Figure 1 - Floodway Schematic 17 TABLES Table 1 - Flooding Sources Studied by Detailed Methods 3 Table 2 - Stream Name Changes 4 Table 3 - Letters of Map Revision 4 Table 4 - Summary of Discharges 9-10 Table 5 – Hydraulic Capacity Analysis 12 Table 6 - Manning's "n" Values 13 Table 7 - Floodway Data 18-24 Table 8 - Community Map History 27 EXHIBITS Exhibit 1 - Flood Profiles Doctors Branch Panels 01P – 02P Donaldson Run Panels 03P – 04P Four Mile Run Panels 05P – 12P Gulf Branch Panels 13P – 14P Little Pimmit Run Panels 15P – 16P Little Pimmit Run Tributary Panels 17P – 18P Lower Long Branch Panels 19P – 20P Lubber Run Panels 21P – 22P North Branch Donaldson Run Panel 23P Potomac River Panels 24P – 27P Spout Run Panel 28P Upper Long Branch Panel 29P Windy Run Panel 30P Exhibit 2 - Flood Insurance Rate Map Index Flood Insurance Rate Map ii FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA AND INCORPORATED AREAS 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 FIS’s / Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) in the geographic area of Arlington County, Virginia, and 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 community that will be used to establish actuarial flood insurance rates. This information will also be used by Arlington 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) shall 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. This FIS was prepared to include the unincorporated areas of Arlington County in a countywide format. Information on the authority and acknowledgments for each jurisdiction included in this countywide FIS, as compiled from their previously printed FIS reports, is shown below. Arlington County: The hydrologic and hydraulic analyses from the FIS report dated November 3, 1981, were performed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), under Inter- Agency Agreement No. IAA-H-7-66, Project Order No. 29. This work was completed in April 1980. For this FIS revision, the hydrologic and hydraulic analysis for the Potomac River was taken from the FIS for Washington D.C, effective _________. Previously, the flooding effects from the Potomac River were not included in the Arlington County FIS and FIRM. A revised analysis for the Potomac River 1% annual chance tidal elevation was performed for FEMA by USACE under Contract No. HSFE03-04-X- 0016. This work was completed in August 2008. For all other detailed studies in 1 Arlington County, AMEC Earth & Environmental, Inc. used the existing hydraulic analyses for Arlington County to redelineate floodplains based on more detailed and up-to-date topographic information. Culvert capacities were also evaluated in select areas to determine whether floodplain reduction or removal was justified where previous open channels had been piped. This work was done under Contract No. FS-2001-EMP-2001-RP-2411, and was completed in April 2006. The extents of these analyses are listed in Section 2.0 of this report. Planimetric base map information for all FIRM panels was provided in digital format by the Arlington County’s GIS Mapping Center. This information was photogrammetrically compiled at a scale of 1’’=50’ from aerial photography dated September 2003. Digital orthophotographs, published in 2003, were also provided by the Arlington County’s GIS Mapping Center. Users of this FIRM should be aware that minor adjustments may have been made to specific base map features to align them to 1":120’ digital orthophotographs. The coordinate system used for the production of this FIRM is Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM), Zone 18 North, North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83), GRS 80 spheroid. Corner coordinates shown on the FIRM are in latitude and longitude referenced to the UTM projection, NAD 83. Differences in the datum and spheroid used in the production of FIRMs for adjacent counties may result in slight positional differences in map features at the county boundaries. These differences do not affect the accuracy of information shown on the FIRM. 1.3 Coordination Consultation and Coordination Officer’s (CCO) meetings may be held for each jurisdiction in this countywide FIS. An initial CCO meeting is held typically with representatives of FEMA, the community, and the study contractor to explain the nature and purpose of a FIS, and to identify the streams to be studied by detailed methods. A final CCO meeting is held typically with representatives of FEMA, the community, and the study contractor to review the results of the study. Two initial CCO meetings were held in July and December 1975. These meetings were attended by representatives of FEMA, USACE (the study contractor), and county officials. The study was also coordinated with the Arlington County Department of Transportation, the Northern Virginia Planning District Commission, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to gather background information and obtain other data. On June 30, 1981, the results of the study were reviewed at the final CCO meeting attended by representatives of the study contractor, FEMA, and county officials. For this countywide FIS, an initial CCO meeting was held May 26, 2004. This meeting was attended by representatives of FEMA, the study contractors, and Arlington County. A final CCO meeting was held on _________ to discuss the results of this study. This meeting was attended by representatives from FEMA, the study contractors, and Arlington County. 2 2.0 AREA STUDIED 2.1 Scope of Study This FIS covers the geographic area of Arlington County, Virginia. All or portions of the flooding sources listed in Table 1, "Flooding Sources Studied by Detailed Methods," were studied by detailed methods. Limits of detailed study are indicated on the Flood Profiles (Exhibit 1) and on the FIRM (Exhibit 2). TABLE 1 - FLOODING SOURCES STUDIED BY DETAILED METHODS Stream Length of Study Doctors Branch From its confluence with Four Mile Run to approximately 1950 feet upstream Donaldson Run From its confluence with the Potomac River to approximately 8100 feet upstream Four Mile Run From its confluence with the Potomac River to approximately 44,600 feet upstream Gulf Branch From its confluence with the Potomac River to approximately 6850 feet upstream Little Pimmitt Run From the Arlington County boundary to approximately 5150 feet upstream Little Pimmitt Run Tributary From its confluence with Little Pimmitt Run to approximately 1350 feet upstream Lower Long Branch From its confluence with Four Mile Run to approximately 10,000 feet upstream Lubber Run From its confluence with Four Mile Run to approximately 8550 feet upstream North Branch Donaldson Run From approximately 5000 feet above the confluence of Donaldson Run with the Potomac River to approximately 2550 feet upstream Potomac River The entire length along the Arlington County boundary Spout Run From its confluence with the Potomac River to approximately 5800 feet upstream Upper Long Branch From its confluence with Four Mile Run to approximately 3850 feet upstream Windy Run From its confluence with the Potomac River to approximately 3300 feet upstream As noted in Section 1.2 of this FIS, hydrologic and hydraulic analysis for the Potomac River was taken from the FIS for Washington D.C, effective _________.