To minimize the time that residents protected by the newly constructed Albuquerque West Levee need to pay for flood insurance, Bernalillo County, the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) are working together to provide the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the required documentation needed for a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) submittal, which could eliminate the need for the flood insurance. Bernalillo County and AMAFCA have completed an agreement to co-fund the preparation of the LOMR.

 

In September 2008, FEMA issued new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for Bernalillo County. As a result of the new mapping, the area west of the Albuquerque West Levee Project was placed in a special flood hazard area. Approval of the LOMR, and subsequent remapping, will remove the area from the mapped special flood hazard area.

 

Construction of the Albuquerque West Levee Project has recently been completed. Upon MRGCD certification, it has been determined that the area west of the levee meets the latest design and construction standards and requirements established by the US Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA. “Our main objective of providing the necessary documentation and certification from the West Levee Project is in the best interest of people and their pocketbooks. We are submitting the documentation with the intention of certifying that the far South Valley residents are absolutely out of the floodplain. They will then be able to see relief from the flood insurance that many of them have been required to buy sooner, rather than later,” says Commissioner Art De La Cruz.

 

Upon completion of the LOMR paperwork by AMAFCA, Bernalillo County will submit the LOMR package, pay the review fees and notify the residents per FEMA procedures. The LOMR will be submitted within the next three months.