Floodplain Conveyance Zone

The FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) are currently used to regulate the placement of fill within the regulatory floodway by requiring a hydraulic analysis to prove the fill will result in no increase or “no-rise” in 100-year flood elevations. However, in East Baton Rouge Parish, many of the channels and streams do not have regulatory floodways established by FEMA. Therefore, we developed a mapping product, the Floodplain Conveyance Zone (FCZ), to expand the identification of areas critical to conveyance and protect their capacity. The FCZs identify nearly all of the critical areas of stormwater conveyance across the Parish. If a proposed development includes fill or construction within an FCZ, it will be required to complete an Offsite Drainage Assessment (ODA) using the Parish’s hydraulic models to demonstrate no adverse impact. The East Baton Rouge Stormwater Master Plan (EBR SMP) modeling effort made possible the creation of this mapping product. More info may be found at https://www.brla.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16881/Development-of-EBR-Floodplain-Conveyance-Zones.