Description
The ability to strategically leverage flood buyouts and home elevations as risk reduction tools for river flooding in King County is limited by several factors, including geographic constraints, funding, upfront costs to homeowners, and homeowner interest. As a result, residential flood risk mitigation programs do not always benefit those who are most vulnerable to flooding.
Contingent on funding from the Flood Control District or other sources, King County will work with partners to expand the use of voluntary residential flood risk reduction and mitigation actions (e.g., voluntary buyouts, home elevations, and other repairs) in ways that benefit more at-risk property owners, including those who have greater financial need within the county. Work on this action includes determining where residential properties are at highest risk of flooding under current and future conditions, identifying and prioritizing residential properties where assistance is needed, focusing residential flood risk mitigation tools on communities countywide that have documented harm from flooding, and augmenting existing funding sources for residential flood risk mitigation projects via federal grants and leveraging local funding for grant match requirements and/or for properties that are not eligible for federal grants.
Work on this action will support repetitive loss areas in the Sammamish, Skykomish, Green, Cedar, and Snoqualmie River Basins and on Vashon Island. Aspects of this work will also require expanding the use of residential home elevations beyond the Snoqualmie Basin. When practicable, efforts to reduce flood risk to homes and other components of the built environment through this action will be done with consideration for protection of farmland.