Overview
The National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make flood insurance available to communities that adopt floodplain management regulations. The City of San Mateo has been a regular member of the National Flood Insurance Program since 1981. Historically, the City was not considered flood prone, but studies completed in the 1980s revised this assessment. In response, FEMA conducted a flood insurance study that designated areas north of Highway 92 for inclusion in a special flood hazard area. This designation became part of a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) that went into effect in 2001 and made flood insurance mandatory for properties within the special flood hazard area and optional for those in other areas. Since then, the City has undertaken a number of steps to modify FEMA’s designation and reduce residents’ insurance premiums.

City’s Efforts to Revise FIRM
FEMA requires communities to address tidal flooding (from the Bay) and residual flooding (from interior sources like creeks) to remove areas designated as flood prone from the FIRM. In response, the City adopted a flood ordinance that meets federal standards for regulating development and improvements to properties in special flood hazard areas. The City also completed a comprehensive study of tidal and residual flood risks, flood protection measures to address these risks, and estimated costs and funding sources to implement improvements. In 2003, the City requested revision of the FIRM and provided FEMA information on planned or in-progress flood improvement measures. FEMA has approved the design concept for projects and issued a Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) to the City.  The CLOMR provides assurance that FEMA will revise the floodmap upon completion of the levee improvements.  The City needs to secure funding for detailed design and construction. The amount of time needed to complete a project and the length of construction is dependent upon a multitude of factors, including whether permits from outside agencies must be secured, availability of materials, and the complexity of the design.

To date, the City has:

• Completed construction of the southern levee wall along San Mateo Creek (2001)

• Completed construction of the Norfolk Bridge over San Mateo Creek (2002)

• Completed construction of the northern levee wall along San Mateo Creek (2004)

• Enlargement of the box culvert under Highway 101 at 3rd Ave was completed by Caltrans (2004)

• Completed construction of the O'Neill Slough Tide Gate and Levee Improvements (2007)

• Approved formation of an Assessment District to fund the South Bayfront Levee Improvement Project (2009)

Remaining projects include:

• Raising the North Levee at Coyote Point Beach ($6 million cost estimate)

• Raising portions of the Bayfront Levee and Detroit Drive Flood Wall ($7.5 million cost estimate)

Steps to Address Residual Flooding

The City has identified three key sources of residual flooding:

• Spill from San Mateo Creek near El Camino Real

• Local runoff to Coyote Point and Poplar Avenue Pump Stations

• Capacity restrictions at Highway 101/16th Avenue and local drainage

As a key step in addressing these risks, the City established an agreement with the San Francisco Water Department regarding winter capacity at Crystal Springs Reservoir. This agreement substantially reduced the area of estimated residual flooding and the cost of improvements.

Remaining projects include:

• Constructing an inboard levee and rehabilitating existing Coyote Point and Poplar pump stations ($8 million cost estimate)

• Increasing capacity of the 16th Avenue drainage channel under Highway 101 and modifying the Delaware Street crossing of the channel ($16 million cost estimate)

Estimated Costs
The City has secured funding for some of the projects described above and will continue to seek state funding for specific improvements, as applicable. Approximately $31.5 million remains unfunded to completely remove flood hazard areas from the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map ($13.5 million for tidal flooding improvements and $24 million for residual flooding improvements). The City has evaluated a number of potential means to fund these improvements, including an assessment district to spread the costs among homeowners that would directly benefit. City representatives conducted outreach activities to solicit community input on a funding strategy. A survey was conducted to gague support for an assessment district to fund the South Bayfront Levee Improvements Project.  Survey results indicated strong support for such a measure.

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For more information about federal insurance requirements, please visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site at www.fema.gov.

For questions or information about the City’s flood protection activities, please contact Tricia Toomey at , or (650) 522-7327.