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KC Water Is Working to Lower Flood Insurance Rates for All KC Homeowners

Posted on September 6, 2016

(Kansas City, Mo.) – Kansas City is no stranger to flooding. But KC Water has been working to minimize the impact on Kansas City homeowners.

As a result of these efforts, KC Water recently learned it has been elevated to Class 7 status within FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS). This means structures within FEMA’s Zone A Risk flood zones can get a 15% reduction in flood insurance premiums. All other structures in the community can get a 10% reduction in flood insurance premiums.

The goal of the CRS is to reward communities that are doing more than meeting the minimum National Flood Insurance Program requirements.

“I’m proud of the work done by our stormwater engineers to reduce the risk to lives and property due to flooding,” said Terry Leeds, Director of KC Water. “Managing stormwater is a critical part of what we do and we will continue our efforts to bring down flood insurance rates even more.”

For 2014, KC Water was at Class 9 status, which resulted in a 5% reduction in rates. Following an audit and submittal of additional work done towards CRS, KC Water was able to document more “points” and earn the 15% reductions in rates. Groundwork has been laid to maximize further points in the future.

Watershed modeling and extensive studies conducted by KC Water, coupled with more than 40 years of flood mitigation improvements, will reduce the number of structures in FEMA’s regulatory floodplain from approximately 4,500 to 2,500, once the preliminary FEMA models and regulatory products are adopted in early 2017. KC Water will send information to property owners where changes have occurred.

For more information, please contact Brooke Givens, Media Relations Coordinator, at brooke.givens@kcmo.org or 816.513.0284.

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KC Water maintains and operates water treatment and distribution systems, stormwater management systems, and wastewater collection and treatment systems for residential and business customers in Kansas City and for wholesale customers in the Kansas City area. KC Water is primarily funded by fees charged to customers based on their use or impacts on the three utility systems.

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