At first the rains come as a light drizzle, tapping out a soothing melody on rooftops and windowpanes. Soon the tempo quickens to a loud drum beat of impending danger. As the rain falls harder and harder the river begins to swell, slowly creeping up its banks. Even the levees that have been constructed to shelter communities from floods are not immune to the growing threat and soon water begins to spill into the land around the river. At one point this land was left free for flooding but then people began to develop along the river. Levees were built and vegetation removed which destroyed the natural processes of the river. With out the natural protection offered from the floodplain the water begins to swirl into the basements and living rooms of the houses. Furniture, family heirlooms, floors and walls are submerged by the flood waters as the residents have to evacuate in a hurry.

This is a scene that is played out over and over again throughout the years and across watersheds. Many homes were insured through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which provides subsidized flood insurance for those living in floodplains. The insurance makes it possible for people to rebuild in the same location after a flood. These rebuilt homes only continue to put their owners in danger from floods and negatively impact salmon. As of 2011 Washington state has had 833 repeatedly flooded homes(those that have been flooded three times or more) and cost tax payers $71 million in insurance claims.

A Possible Way Out

When people are flooded out of their homes it takes an emotional and financial toll on the families, many of which were unaware of the extent of danger that living in these areas presents. The FEMA buy out program is a long and complex process that offers the possibility of moving people out of floodplains and restoring the floodplain, helping people and wildlife. This video shows firsthand accounts of flood victims’ experiences with flooding and using the buyout program.

Bad for People and Wildlife

Developing in floodplains puts people in danger and destroys critical habitat for endangered salmon runs in the Puget Sound region. It is for this reason that the National Wildlife Federation is involved in a lawsuit against FEMA. Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) no federal agency can take actions that harm an ESA listed species. By promoting development in floodplains FEMA is violating the ESA and threatening endangered salmon runs and the orcas which rely on salmon for their primary food source.

Moving Forward

Instead of continuing to bail people out of flooded properties FEMA should make it easier for people to move out of the floodplain and to higher, safer ground. This is of particular importance in the face of Climate Change which will cause an increase in extreme events such as flooding. Properties that they do ensure should be safe for people and wildlife.

A Natural Legacy

In the Pacific Northwest, we are blessed with the kinds of surroundings that most people just read about in the glossy pages of magazines. Accordingly, we want to build homes and businesses as close to that natural beauty as we can get – often, in floodplains. Unfortunately, in doing so, we destroy the natural systems that sustain this essential ecosystem.

Floodplains are Critical Salmon Habitat

Salmon have forever been our pride in the Puget Sound Region. It’s for good reason, they are a keystone species that keeps this ecosystem living and breathing. Unfortunately, their unique fresh and saltwater lifestyle makes them very susceptible to the alterations that we have made to the vulnerable riparian areas on which they depend.

Development adds impervious surfaces which carry storm water runoff full of pollutants straight into nearby rivers. All of these factors have resulted in the dramatic decline of Puget Sound salmon populations.

These impacts also have a negative impact on other marine life. According to one study, orcas, who feed on the fish and contain 400-550 times higher concentration of toxic PCBs than humans, are leaving the Sound for cleaner waters up north, where food is more abundant.

The State of Washington’s Floodplains

The National Marine Fisheries Services cited these sobering facts in a recent evaluation of floodplain habitat impacts on Puget Sound salmon populations:

1. 71 percent of the State’s floodplains are in poor condition.
2. More than 90 percent of the wetlands and floodplains once associated with lowland alluvial rivers of the Puget Sound basin have been lost.
3. Ditching, diking, and dredging activities in floodplains, primarily found in urban and agricultural regions, were associated with a 73 percent loss of coho salmon rearing habitat in the Skagit River system.

The Impact of the National Flood Insurance Program on Salmon

Since the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) began, it has served to make building in floodplains more affordable; with the assurance that those properties will be repaired if they flood. Our decisions about where to build homes and businesses typically come down to economics, not concern over fish. We don’t intend to harm salmon. We just want to be close to nature, and don’t want our homes to flood. But instead of factoring in the risk and costs of flooding, and the value of nature (and the fish), the NFIP alters our decisions based on false assurances, not accurate economics.

Support NWF’s efforts to defend Puget Sound floodplains, and learn more about similar efforts around the United States.

As we begin to assess the damage from some of the most severe flooding since 1927, it is critical that Congress not miss this opportunity to substantially reform the NFIP [National Flood Insurance Program ]to better protect people, property and the environment. –prepared testimony of Adam Kolton, executive director of the National Wildlife’s Federation’s National Advocacy Center.

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Representing Smarter Safer.org , the National Wildlife Federation’s Adam Kolton is testifying before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs about the need to reform the National Flood Insurance Program. The NFIP  is a federal program that is $17 billion in debt and encourages construction in environmentally sensitive areas. SmarterSafer.org is a coalition of national conservation organizations, insurance and reinsurance companies and associations, housing advocacy groups, taxpayer and free market think tanks and other groups that want safe, fiscally sound and environmentally responsible approaches to natural catastrophe policy.

In the video, Kolton outlines the connection between wildlife, the environment and the National Flood Insurance Program, as well as the need for comprehensive reform.

H.R. 1309, the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011, is a first step in reforming the NFIP. “This bill makes great strides towards removing subsidies that have incentivized high risk development of environmentally sensitive areas”, says Josh Saks, senior legislative representative for NWF’s water resources campaign. Currently, the NFIP charges below market rates for flood insurance, which encourages development in flood prone areas. These areas, if left undeveloped, would serve as natural protective buffers against flooding. The new reform bill would require people to pay market-based rates for flood insurance, which makes it less attractive to build in a risky area. H.R. 1309 also seeks to have every property included in floodplain maps.  As a result, taxpayers will be more informed about which properties carry flood risk and how they can protect themselves.

“But, there is more that can be done,” Saks says about the Flood Insurance Reform Act. While the bill makes many necessary and welcome changes to the NFIP, it does not encourage mitigation of flood risk and does not pay down the program’s massive debt. H.R. 1309 recently passed in the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity. Committee members will continue working on provisions in the bill before it moves to the full committee. NWF will continue urging Congress to protect the environment and public safety through flood insurance reform.