Effective 1/29/2021 | Ventura River Watershed | Coastal Areas
Recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) completed a multi-year project to evaluate current flood risk and update local flood maps for the Ventura River Watershed and Coastal areas in Ventura County. The new flood hazard maps become effective on January 29, 2021. Due to newly mapped flood hazards in the Ventura River Watershed and along the coast, you may need to purchase flood insurance if you live or own property in these areas. Flood insurance coverage is mandatory for homes or structures with federally backed mortgages located in the FEMA mapped high-risk special flood hazard area.
Flooding can happen at any time. Even if flood insurance is not required for your property, purchasing flood insurance is still highly encouraged to protect your property in the event of a flooding emergency.
For questions about insurance and mapping, contact the FEMA Mapping and Insurance eXchange at 877-336-2627. To lookup your specific address to understand how these upcoming map changes will impact you and your property, visit Flood Hazard Maps or FEMA’s Map Service Center.
For properties located in the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, Public Works staff are available at 805-654-2423 or by submitting an online request. In-person assistance is also available by appointment. For properties located within an incorporated city, click here.
VENTURA RIVER WATERSHED STUDY HISTORY
FEMA released the Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) on December 23, 2015. Following the release, public outreach meetings were held in October 2016 to introduce the preliminary maps to the affected communities and collect comments to collect comments from residents. Since the release of the preliminary FIRM, the Ventura County Public Works Agency and the cities have worked together to perform technical reviews and submit appeals to FEMA to ensure the flood hazard mapping products are produced using the latest technologies and are based on the best available information. Incorporating the review comments and technical appeals, FEMA released a Revised Preliminary FIRM on January 31, 2020. After resolving all comments and appeals, FEMA issued a Letter of Final Determination (LFD) on July 29, 2020 and the Preliminary FIRM will become effective on January 29, 2021. According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations Section 60.3 (d and c), local communities are required to adopt the effective FIRM and the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reports thereafter.
COASTAL STUDY HISTORY
FEMA released the Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) on September 30, 2016. Following the release, public outreach meetings were held in the cities of Ventura and in Oxnard in May 2017 to introduce the preliminary maps to the affected communities and to collect comments from residents. During the appeal period which ended in September 2017, the Ventura County Public Works Agency in collaboration with the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, and Port Hueneme, and local communities had conducted a detailed technical review of the coastal flood hazard analysis and mapping products and submitted review comments and appeals to FEMA. After resolving all comments and appeals, FEMA issued a Letter of Final Determination (LFD) on July 29, 2020 and the Preliminary FIRM will become effective on January 29, 2021. According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations Section 60.3 (d and c), local communities are required to adopt the effective FIRM and the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) reports thereafter.
