LAKE COUNTY — The Lake County Water Resources Department has been notifying property owners and real estate agencies for the past three weeks of a discount upgrade the county received in its flood insurance program.
New and renewed flood insurance policies for properties in the unincorporated parts of the county”s floodplain area began receiving a 15-percent discount as of Oct. 1.
The county belongs to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS), which classifies participating local communities who earn credit points based on flood preparedness, regulations and awareness projects.
“I”m happy to have the class upgrade,” Tom Smythe, Water Resources engineer, said. “It”s something that”s definitely worth it to the people who have flood insurance.”
Lake County improved its status to a Class 7 earlier this year, resulting in the 15-percent discount.
The average flood insurance policy in the unincorporated county is valued at $755, meaning the improved discount would result in $133 average savings per policy, Smythe wrote in a letter to lending institutions and real estate agencies distributed on Nov. 12.
The county began sending 4,700 letters to people who own improved properties in the floodplain on Nov. 15, Smythe said.
These letters serve as one example of the type of community outreach that helped the county earn the upgrade, Smythe said. “A lot of this is nothing we have done special,” he said.
The county also earned credits for making floodplain information available online and in the library and for having some requirements higher than regulatory standards. State law also earned the county additional credits.
The upgrade affects more than 5,200 parcels in the unincorporated areas in Lake County, Smythe said. All landowners with property in the floodplain are required to have flood insurance, though some in Lake County do not have it, according to Smythe.
Nearly 22,000 acres of the unincorporated county are in the floodplain, which does not include the two cities, the major lakes or federally managed lands, Smythe said, listing Scotts Valley, the Clear Lake shoreline, the Big Valley floor, streams around Lower Lake, Putah Creek and areas of Middletown near creeks as major floodplain areas.
The city of Clearlake used to belong to the CRS, but “opted out” of the program in 2007 because of staffing issues, Bob Galusha, Clearlake city engineer said.
Areas in Clearlake in the floodplain include the lake shoreline and residences near Burns Valley Creek and other major creeks in the city, according to Galusha.
Clearlake does belong to the NFIP, which allows property owners to receive government protection for losses from flood damage. The CRS is a voluntary program local communities can apply for in addition to the NFIP.
The city of Lakeport also belongs to the NFIP and has taken steps toward applying for the CRS, according to Tom Carlton, who assumes the duties of city”s floodplain administrator. Carlton estimated the flood zone affects 15 to 20 percent of properties in the city.
“The CRS is a goal of mine for the city to participate in,” said Carlton, who hopes the city will join the program by 2011. “Any reduction in costs is a benefit to the community.”
Smythe said the county applied for the CRS in 1995 and has been required to reapply for certification every five years since. The county entered the CRS as a Class 8 community, earned a Class 7 upgrade in 2000 but reverted back to a Class 8 in 2005.
Smythe said the regression in 2005 was the result of an incomplete application. “Maybe we were short-staffed at the time,” he said.
Lake County currently holds 1,614 credit points and would need to reach a total of 2,000 points to earn a Class 6 upgrade and a 20-percent discount.
The county would have to take on several “big money” projects to earn that upgrade, Smythe said. “I don”t see it happening anytime in the near future,” he said.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
