Streams, Rivers & Lakes

The River Center works to protect and restore the rivers of the Kenai Peninsula, its watersheds, and its fish and wildlife resources.

KPB Floodplain Management Program

The Kenai Peninsula Borough is a participating community in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), a federal program that encourages responsible development to ensure the natural and beneficial function of floodplains, to promote public health, safety and welfare and to minimize public and private losses due to flooding.

The KPB Floodplain Program manages all areas of the Kenai Peninsula with the exceptions of the cities of Seward, Kenai, and Homer (who manage their own floodplain programs), and the city of Soldotna (who does not participate in the NFIP).

 

Kenai River Inundation Maps

How deep is the water on your property? Check out these inundation maps below:

Skilak Reach
RM 50 - 40 (Skilak outlet to Bings Landing)
Soldotna Reach
RM 40 - 0 (Bings Landing to Cook Inlet)

What is a floodplain?

The floodplain is the area inundated by waters during a flood event. The regulatory floodplain, on the other hand, covers only those areas of our community that are affected by flood waters during the base flood, or the flood that has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year. That sounds small, but - big floods happen irregularly, and it is possible to have two base flood events in as many years. Over the term of a 30-year mortgage you have a 26% chance of experiencing a base flood event.

The floodplain is made up of the floodway and the flood fringe:

  • The regulatory floodway is the part of the river where the waters will be the deepest and fastest during a flood event. It is a highly dangerous part of the floodplain where development regulations are the strictest.
  • The flood fringes are the areas alongside the floodway that make up the rest of the regulatory floodplain.

Infographic showing the physical characteristics of a floodplain.

 

How can I find out if my property is in the floodplain?

Request a Floodplain Determination

There is a quick and easy way find out where your property is located in relation to the floodplain. Simply fill out our online Floodplain Determination. You will receive a letter and map by email or mail that detail the location of your property in the floodplain, which can help you make decisions about flood preparedness and future development. The floodplain determination is comprised of data from FEMA. You may also review and look at your property at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center.

Once you receive your Floodplain Determination, we encourage you to contact the Floodplain Administrator at the River Center for any questions you may have about the regulations that may affect development on your property.

 

Elevation Certificates: do you have one?

We have an online database of existing Elevation Certificates. If you cannot find the Elevation Certificate you're looking for, please contact the River Center. Search Elevation Certificates 

FEMA Elevation Certificate - 2023 Edition (You must open this document in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat to view the content.)

 

How do KPB Floodplain Management regulations affect how I can use my property?

Floodplain development regulations in the Kenai Peninsula Borough are based on FEMA requirements that ensure that development in our community progresses in ways that provide the best preparedness for flood events. For any development in the floodplain (i.e., building or rebuilding structures, adding additions or other improvements, adding fill, dredging, excavation, driveways, fishing platforms, etc.), property owners need to submit a permit application to the River Center. Additionally, there are requirements affecting the placement of travel trailers, mobile homes, and other temporary structures within the mapped floodplain.

You may be familiar with the KPB Habitat Protection Distict, which is a 50-foot buffer along the managed anadromous streams of the Kenai Peninsula. The floodplain does not have a set width. In some areas, such as a riverfront property on a high bluff, the floodplain main only extend a few feet onto the property. But in low areas like Big Eddy or Castaway Cove, the floodplain (and even floodway) may extend for hundreds of feet from the water. It can get complicated, which is why it's a great idea to request a Floodplain Determination which will give you that information in a clear and brief format to help you understand where your property is located in the floodplain.

Based on where you are in the floodplain, you may need to elevate or flood-proof structures to a certain height, called the base flood elevation. This is how high the flood waters are expected to get in the event of a flood. The KPB Floodplain Administrator will be able to provide the base flood elevation for your property as part of your application review. Other kinds of development will need to meet floodplain guidelines as well.

 

An infographic depicting a river at normal conditions, and at flood conditions

Please contact the KPB Floodplain Administrator at (907) 714-2460 for any questions you have about development in the KPB regulatory floodplain.

 

FEMA DIY Quoting Tool for Flood Insurance

FEMA has released a onling quoting tool that allows you to create an NFIP flood insurance quote based on a home's address and simple characteristics of the home. This tool uses the same risk rating engine that insurance agents use. The tool can be found at D2C Quote Tool.

 

What To Do If You Think The Flood Map Is Wrong

Because the regulatory floodplain maps are a snapshot in time, they are static and aren't able to reflect elevation changes that occur throughout the years. This includes things such as river migration or adding fill that "raises" a structure out of the floodplain. 

Recognizing that these situations do happen, FEMA established procedures to change the floodplain designation for these properties. These processes are referred to as a Letter of Map Change (LOMC), and can be done via a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or a Letter of Map Revision-Based on Fill (LOMR-F). Here is a link to the LOMC tutorial.

By going through a LOMC process, an individual who owns, rents or leases property may submit certain mapping and survey information to FEMA and request that FEMA officially removes a property and/or structure from the regulatory floodplain. In most cases, the applicant will need to hire a Licensed Land Surveyor or Registered Professional Engineer to prepare an Elevation Certificate for the property.

It is recommended that applicants submit their LOMA application directly to FEMA through their online portal. Upon receiving a complete application, FEMA will normally complete its review and issue its decision in 60 days.

 

Quick Links

 

Other Useful Links

 

FEMA Technical Bulletins