If you own property that is protected by a levee, you may be surprised to find that the levee has been de-accredited of its capability to provide flood protection. This means that your property may be designated as high risk on new Digitized Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM’s) and that you may be required to purchase flood insurance if you hold a federally backed or regulated mortgage.

Background: A levee is a man made structure that provides protection from temporary flooding. There are thousands of miles of levees in this country, many of which were designed under older standards or have not received needed maintenance or upgrades. This could pose a risk to the integrity of the levees and a false security for those living behind them.

Recognizing this risk, as part of their DFIRM update, the federal government is requiring that a certificate of compliance be submitted by a professional engineer or an agency responsible for levee design. The certificate must show that the levees provide protection from what is termed the ‘base flood’, or that which has a 1 percent (or a one in a hundred year) chance of occurring.

In addition to meeting a number of structural requirements, levees must also provide a minimum of 3’ of freeboard above the base flood elevation. If regulations are met, a levee is considered to be accredited. Levees that no longer meet these requirements are de-accredited and property behind them is considered to be in a flood hazard area. Because overtopping or failure of a levee system is possible even with accreditation, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) encourages all property owners to carry flood insurance, even if they are not required to.

To see if and how your property is affected by these changes, or to get an update on your county’s DFIRM mapping, visit FEMA - NY Mapping Status.