Most of the property owners in Santa Maria would be required to buy flood insurance, based on an early draft of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's revised flood maps that was shown Monday to city and county officials.

FEMA has identified 20,000 parcels and 17,000 structures in Santa Maria that would be in its revised flood plain - reaching from the Santa Maria River Levee and possibly down to Betteravia Road.

Any structure with a federally backed mortgage that's within the flood plain would need flood insurance, which could cost hundreds of dollars per year.

“It probably was the worst case of what we have been thinking about in terms of limits (of the flood plain),” said Tom Fayram, Santa Barbara County deputy public works director, after Monday's meeting with FEMA.

In addition to their first look at what may become the official flood maps, local officials were told that FEMA is planning to have final maps become effective July 2008, Fayram said.

Preliminary maps are expected to be released for public hearings in the fall, though officials note that arguments for or against the maps will have to be based on scientific, not anecdotal, evidence.

“This will be fought on a highly technical basis,” said Mayor Larry Lavagnino, who attended the meeting along with city utility and public works officials. For example, someone saying a house has never flooded would not be an effective argument, he said.

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Local officials say they will now go over the data FEMA used to create the map and refute any details they do not agree with.

The timeline for the maps is just as important as what parcels will be are included, since residents can get a cheaper rate by purchasing insurance sooner rather than later.

While officials haggle over the details of this early map, residents are being urged to look at the possibility of purchasing flood insurance early, so properties can be “grandfathered in” at lower rates once the maps become effective.

Anyone who buys flood insurance before the preliminary maps become effective is considered a preferred-risk policy holder, said Frank Mansell, a FEMA spokesman. There is usually a window of about six months between the release of the first preliminary maps and the effective date of the final map. That clock may start in the fall when preliminary maps are expected to be released for public review.

Preferred-risk policies cover contents and structure, Mansell said, and have a lower premium at $317 annually for residential structures.

Once flood maps become effective, and a home is determined to be in a flood zone, people with preferred-risk policies are eligible for an “X-zone policy,” during their annual renewal, Mansell said.

Insurance holders are only eligible to be grandfathered in if they keep their policies current and do not miss payments, Mansell said.

The X-zone policy has a higher rate than the original preferred-risk policy, but it is still lower than if a home owner buys the first policy after the new flood maps become effective.

Flood insurance is offered only through the National Flood Insurance Program, which is run by FEMA. Though the federal government manages the program, local agents are trained to sell flood insurance, Mansell said.

The 26-mile levee that separates the city from the Santa Maria River consists of river sand formed into a berm and fronted with an 18-inch-thick rock face. However, flood control officials are concerned because the rocks holding the sand in place are deteriorating, which leaves portions of the levee vulnerable to washing away.

Unlike the levee breach in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the Santa Maria levee isn't in danger of “over topping,” but instead is in danger of being undercut.

County officials maintain - and the federal government has agreed - that the problem with the levee is not maintenance but design: The local system was not designed for the way in which the Santa Maria River flows.

When the river runs, the water moves swiftly but meanders within the riverbed. At some points, the rushing water hits the rock face at almost a 90-degree angle, washing portions away.

Deficiencies in the levee were initially acknowledged by federal officials in March 2006, when a Corps of Engineers official described the need to repair the system as “critical and urgent.” Further proof was given earlier this year when the Santa Maria River Levee was included on a nationwide list of levees that are at risk of failure.

With all the attention paid to the levee and its inadequacies, some residents have questioned why homes were allowed to be built in the shadow of the levee, but local officials say their decisions were made when the levee still had Army Corps of Engineers's certification that it was safe.

“While the levee was certified, you cannot refuse a person the reasonable use of his land,” Lavagnino said. “(There is) no way to legally turn down the use while the levee is certified.”

Malia Spencer can be reached at 739-2219 or mspencer@santamariatimes.com.

April 10, 2007