Re-Introduce & Support the Flood Mapping Modernization Bill

Today I take pen in hand to write and request that you re-introduce and add your co-sponsorship and support to a bill that would address a long overdue problem: the Flood Mapping Modernization and Homeowner Empowerment Pilot Program. With the various side-effects of the climate emergency being felt inland, as well as here on our coast, it’s really time for a complete revamp of flood plain information and mapping.   A top-down approach to methodology will help states with their own flood plain maps. It’s well known that many areas flood maps are badly out of date. In Canada, they are estimating that their maps are 20-25 years out of date. The Federal Emergency Management Agency maps for the U.S. are not only out-of-date, but cover only about a third of streams and rivers, and coasts are just as underserved. We’ve all seen the side effects of climate change increasingly play out in many communities where they didn’t even know they were higher risk than even ten years ago.   Estimates for improving all of this will be in the tens of billions of dollars. We must start now, and with the National Flood Insurance Program also in need of an overhaul, these issues are going to become more acute for the San Francisco Bay Area, and it’s properties and impact the need for housing.   Proper planning for climate change must be a priority regardless of the Administration’s retrograde stance on this problem. This first step is one we must take in order to plan for the future of our district and the nation.   Thanks for your attention to this matter.