Floodplain Management
Purpose of Floodplain Management
The purpose of floodplain management for the City of Watford City is to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the public, and to minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions in specific areas by provisions designed to:
1. Protect human life and health;
2. Minimize expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects;
3. Minimize the need for rescue and relief efforts associated with flooding, and generally undertaken at the expense of the general public;
4. Minimize prolonged business interruptions;
5. Minimize damage to public facilities and utilities such as water and gas mains, electric, telephone, and sewer lines, streets, and bridges located in special flood hazard areas;
6. Help maintain a stable tax base by providing for the second use and development of special flood hazard areas so as to minimize future flood blight areas;
7. Ensure that potential buyers are notified that property is in a special flood hazard area; and
8. Ensure that those who occupy the special flood hazard areas assume responsibility for their actions.
Floodplain Development Permit
A floodplain development permit shall be obtained before construction or development begins within any special flood hazard area (SFHA) established in Section 3.2 of the ordinance. Development is defined as any man-made change to improve or unimprove real estate including building, filling, grading, paving, excavating, or storage equipment or materials.