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 Larimer County has released a Spring newsletter with the latest disaster recovery information and updates. Topics include current county infrastructure repair projects, hazard mitigation programs as well as summary information about CDBG-DR.
Please CLICK HERE to read the newsletter
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 A new round of financial assistance is open to High Park Fire survivors, who can get up to $100,000 to help with rebuilding projects or up to $50,000 towards a new home.
Additional funds might be available to repair or replace private bridges, culverts and roads. Homeowners can also get reimbursed for personal funds spent on rebuilding between June 28, 2012 and June 28, 2013. The funds are available through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds, which are also available to flood survivors. Loveland Housing Authority is managing available funds for Larimer County flood and fire survivors. Call 970-667-3232 to speak to a disaster recovery staff person about eligibility. Click HERE for more detailed program information  From Luke McNally, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, March 11, 2015:
https://www.wlrv.net/index.php?section=events&action=list& As for upcoming work in the canyon, WRV is working on the north Fork on April 18th and again on another date not yet confirmed in May. This revegetation and erosion control work will follow construction work by CFL on a mixture of Forest Service and private land on the North Fork. WRV will have projects on the Lower North Fork this September 12th and 26th and October 10th and 31st. And more the following spring of 2016. We are working on putting together a smaller reveg project on the mainstem at MP 71 where we did some exigent work last spring, we have a potential corporate sponsor that were working on. We are restraining from any major reveg on the mainstem until after the CDOT final highway construction. Any ideas for corporate sponsors for smaller projects will be helpful addressing smaller scale needs. WRV is excited to work alongside other volunteer groups like Estes Valley Land Trust and TU. These events are open to the public to participate, individuals or groups can sign up on the WRV website or contact me directly. Most of these volunteer events will require more than 50 individuals to implement, advertising these projects through the BTRRC webpage and facebook will help insure strong recruitment and success. Volunteers can expect to be well fed, spending the day planting native riparian woody vegetation, herbaceous wetland plugs and native seed mixes, as well as installing erosion control material and woodstraw mulch. The National Arbor Day Foundation, with corporate sponsor Canon, has generously donated 5000 seedling trees to the Big Thompson Canyon Association/Big Thompson River Restoration Coalition. These seedling trees, from the Colorado State Forest Service Nursery in Fort Collins, are free to landowners in the canyon. The available plants are:
Chokecherry – bare root (25 units/bunch) Threeleaf Sumac – bare root (25 units/bunch) Cottonwood – bare root (25 units/bunch) Serviceberry – large tube (30 units/box) Ponderosa Pine – large tube (30 units/box) Douglas Fir – trays (50 units/tray) Rocky Mountain Juniper – large tube (30 units/box) The trees will be available for pick-up in April at various locations within the canyon. The coalition will also coordinate volunteers to assist in planting the seedlings for residents who are interested. To pre-order your seedlings, or if you have any questions about the program, please contact: Mary Myers mm72161@yahoo.com (970) 667-6984 or Jennifer Sanders jenny@bigthompson.org (303) 532-7922 If you are looking for other varieties of trees/shrubs, the Big Thompson Conservation District is also selling CSFS seedlings. For more information on this program, please contact Jennifer, at the number listed above. On Wednesday April 1st as the Larimer County Engineering Department provides information on preliminary floodplain study results in the Glen Haven area. Staff from the Engineering Department and the County’s engineering consultant will be available to answer questions about the study and the results.
This study is intended to: · Provide updated hydrologic analysis to identify 100-year peak discharges. · Help to assess appropriate sizes for roadway or driveway crossing structures on the stream channels. · Help provide guidance for property owners and others in understanding floodplain constraints and in examining allowable land uses along CR 43 in the community. · Ultimately be used to adopt new FEMA regulatory flood hazard maps. From 4:00 p.m. To 7:00 p.m. Estes Park Town Hall 170 MacGregor Avenue Second Floor Conference Room Work has also been ongoing on analysis and design of permanent crossing repairs on the publicly-dedicated portion of West Creek Road and Engineering staff will have information about this project as well. The meeting is an open house format with no formal presentation. You are welcome at anytime during the meeting to come learn about the study, ask questions and submit your thoughts or comments. We look forward to seeing you. If you are unable to attend the meeting and have questions, or need more information, please call Mark Peterson in the Engineering Department at (970) 498-5714. President Obama signed Executive Order (E.O.) 13690, Establishing a Federal Flood Risk Management Standard and a Process for Further Soliciting and Considering Stakeholder Input, on January 30, 2015.
The new E.O. amends E.O. 11988, “Floodplain Management” (1977), and, among other things, provides 3 approaches that federal agencies can use now to establish the flood elevation and hazard area for consideration in their decisionmaking: climate-informed science approach, adding 2-3 feet of elevation to the 100-year floodplain, and using the 500-year floodplain. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) simultaneously published the draft “Revised Guidelines for Implementing Executive Order 11988, Floodplain Management,” which, in part, emphasizes integration with NEPA, for public review. A 60-day public review period of the draft revised guidelines ends on April 6, 2015. Comments received during a 60-day public review period, including those made during public meetings, will be considered in finalizing the revised guidelines. Within 30 days of the closing of the public review period on the draft revised guidelines, each agency is to submit an implementation plan that contains milestones and a timeline. Agencies shall not issue or amend existing regulations and procedures until after the Water Resources Council has issued the final revised guidelines. Larimer County, the City of Loveland and partners are undertaking an assessment of recreation and conservation opportunities along the Big Thompson River. The extreme flooding that occurred along the river in September 2013 resulted in severe erosion, extensive damage to property and infrastructure, and loss of significant economic, riparian, aquatic, and scenic resources. Nearly all of the highly used federal, state, county, and city recreation facilities were extensively damaged.
Through this Recreation and Conservation Assessment, Larimer County and the City of Loveland will work collaboratively with public, agencies, private and non-profit sectors to: • Assess existing protected lands and identify the feasibility and priorities for conserving additional lands within the Big Thompson corridor; • Assess existing recreation amenities and identify the feasibility for future recreational access via public property within the Big Thompson corridor; and • Assign a priority, funding sources, and agency responsibilities to potential projects. http://www.larimer.org/bigthompsonplan/ There is an online survey – A Bigger Vision for the Big T: Online Survey Please provide feedback by March 31 and stay tuned for information about additional public input opportunities. Feel free to contact Zac Wiebe with any questions at zwiebe@larimer.org 
Flood and wildfire season is approaching: Know your risks, Make your plans, and Improve your outcome.
The Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and our READYColorado program have joined the National Weather Service's Colorado forecast offices to share information that will make those living and visiting Colorado more prepared. Visit our COEmergency.com and READYColorado.com websites each day to learn more on floods and wildfires. Here is the first preparedness blog written by Tom Magnuson, Warning Coordination Meteorologist, National Weather Service Pueblo The National Weather Service wants everyone to be part of a Weather Ready Nation. Colorado has more than its fair share of floods, flash floods and wildfires. You should be Weather Ready and know how to stay safe when floods and wildfires affect your area. Governor Hickenlooper has proclaimed this week, March 16 – 22, as Colorado Flood Safety and Wildfire Awareness Week. Now is the time to learn about flood and wildfire risks in Colorado and to develop your plans to improve your outcome. Floodprone areas have been identified in over 250 cities and towns and in all of the 64 counties in Colorado. Over 250,000 people live in floodplains in Colorado. There are estimated to be 65,000 homes and 15,000 commercial, industrial and business structures in identified floodplains. There are likely many more structures located within unmapped flood hazard areas. The value of the property, structures and contents located in the identified floodplains is estimated to be nearly $15 billion. Floods and flash floods have killed over 400 people in Colorado since the turn of the 20th Century. The historic weather pattern of September 2013 reminds us all that floods are a major concern across the Centennial state. Floods have caused billions of dollars of damage in Colorado. On average 2500 wildfires occur across Colorado each year. Since 2013 eight people have been killed when wildfires occurred in the wildland urban interface (WUI). The National Weather Service forecast offices which service Colorado will issue a series of public information statements during this Flood Safety and Wildfire Awareness Week covering the following topics:
Article reposted from ReadyColorado.com  DENVER – The FEMA temporary housing mission serving Colorado came to a close March 14, 2015. In the aftermath of the 2013 Colorado flooding, FEMA brought in more than 50 manufactured homes to areas where a severe housing shortage was identified. In the past month, the final few remaining households have been moving out of the FEMA units.
“This is yet another sign of the recovery in Colorado,” said FEMA Region VIII Administrator Sharon Loper. “The FEMA housing mission provided a needed temporary housing resource for individuals and families in areas where the housing stock was depleted following the devastating floods.” To address the housing needs of the Colorado flood survivors, FEMA placed housing units at manufactured home parks in Boulder, Larimer and Weld counties. The first units were placed in November 2013. The FEMA housing mission is designed to provide lodging for individuals and families while repairs are made to their disaster-damaged property or they seek alternative rental housing. The diligent efforts of FEMA housing staff and the state’s Disaster Case Management caseworkers have assisted residents in finding available rental housing and/or coordinating additional funding sources for the completion of repairs to their homes. As part of the housing program, FEMA housing specialists met frequently with residents to assist them in their search for permanent housing. The Colorado Division of Housing and numerous volunteer and local agencies also have provided critical support to these households. In addition to managing the temporary housing program, FEMA has provided more than $56 million to Colorado households to make repairs to flood damaged properties or to pay rent while unable to live in a flood-damaged home. Statewide, FEMA has provided more than $380 million in disaster assistance to individuals and governmental jurisdictions as a result of 2013 flooding. Photo courtesy of FEMA.gov |
