floodplain Archives - Teton Realty Blog

Disclaimer: As always, I need to start out this article with a disclaimer. I know enough about many of these topics to be dangerous – which is dangerous. Always seek the advice of appropriate professionals as this information is subject to change as well as my own interpretation. I don’t often go back and update old articles, so I’ll leave this here.

Wetland should not be confused with floodplain. Flood zones are not always wetland, and wetlands are not necessarily in floodplains. Flood zones normally occur in areas next to bodies of water or runoff areas and are often considered higher risk when it comes to flooding. However, any property can flood, not necessarily only properties in a floodplain or a wetland.

How to Identify Wetland

Wetland can occur even in areas not directly adjacent to a body of water and is usually determined by three primary factors:

1) Hydrology: Hydrology indicators can include the presence of surface water or wet soils as determined by evidence or review by a wetland professional utilizing different tools or testing to understand the presence of water.

2) Vegetation: Roughly a quarter of the plant vegetation species in the United States grow in wetland areas. Plant species can be classified in a number of different ways as identified below in order of wet to dry:

Obligate Wetland (usually very indicative of wetland areas) ie Sedges (which have triangular, sharp stems) and Willow
Facultative Wetland (usually occur in wetlands, but occasionally found in non-wetlands) ie Horsetail, Baltic Rush
Facultative (equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands) Meadow Foxtail, Timothy, Brome, Bluegrass
Facultative Upland (usually occur in non-wetlands, but occasionally found in wetlands) ie Potentilla
Obligate Upland (almost always occur only in non-wetlands) ie Sheep Fescue

3) Soils: Wetland soils are often referred to as hydric soils. These soils can be analyzed by digging a hole (usually 12-18 in deep) and looking at indications of saturated soils that usually show indications of oxygen depletion. This can be evidenced (essentially) by rust in the soils and the coming and going of water, creating oxidation. Oxidation can be due to iron and is usually identified by orange flecks in the soil or manganese which will reveal itself with a purple color.

Can you build in Wetland?

Wetland areas do require special permits and approvals. But first, they must be identified as wetland, usually by way of what is referred to as a Wetland Delineation performed by a properly trained wetland Consultant.

If a particular property shows indications of wetland, Teton County, Idaho will generally require a Wetland Delineation. They have requirements of 50′ or 100′ setbacks, depending on the delineation findings. If the project looks like it will encroach within 50′ of wetlands as indicated by the Delineation, the county may require a Jurisdictional Determination (JD) from the Army Corps of Engineers. If there are any questions on a project, despite setbacks, the Teton County Planning Staff may still send the information to the Corps for review. A JD is the process of Determining whether areas indicated as wetland are regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act.

If a property is determined to be wetland, with the proper permits it may be possible to impact up to 0.1 acre of wetland for driveway, septic, and a home site. If wetland is mitigated to another area, these improvement areas can be increased to 0.5 acres.

Wetland areas can make tremendous home sites, but it is important to remember the reason that these regulations exist in order to protect wildlife, habitat and waterways, often considered a key cornerstone of Teton Valley’s natural beauty.

Sources:

https://www.sac.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Jurisdictional-Determinations-and-Delineations/#:~:text=A%20Jurisdictional%20Determination%20(JD)%20is,Clean%20Water%20Act%20and%2For
1998 Edition of the US Army Corps of Engineers “Recognizing Wetlands” document
https://dec.vermont.gov/watershed/wetlands/what/id/hydrophytes
Teton County, Idaho Planning & Zoning
Teton County, Idaho Land Development Code (current)
http://www.biotaresearch.com/

If you have ever obtained a loan on a property, and reviewed your settlement statement break down prior to closing, you’ve probably noticed a breakdown of fees associated with your loan. We don’t normally see some these things when it comes to cash transactions. One of those fees required by most lenders is the flood certification fee. It can sometimes be overlooked, typically the cost is less than $100. So what is it?

Basically, it’s a real estate-related document that outlines the flood zone status of the property. If the lender determines the property is in a flood zone, They will require an additional flood insurance policy (in most cases). The status of the property is subject to re-evaluation. If it is later determined that the flood maps changed, the lender can usually come back at any time and require the additional insurance.

So, if you are obtaining a loan, in most cases you can rest assured that someone will help you with this process. But what if you are paying cash?

There are a number of resources available to help research flood zones. The first place to start, in my opinion, would be the FEMA flood maps service center. There is Interactive map with address search capability to help pinpoint the property in relation to the latest FEMA map that is available. These maps can be amended overtime as topography changes either naturally or as a result of excavation or man-made structures.

Second, most counties have an available map layer that provides some of the same information, or similar information. This can also be a starting point when researching properties in or close to a flood zone.

Third, the US Fish and Wildlife service has a wetland map that was compiled over the past three decades using old infrared satellite technology, and other technologies as they came available. These maps are mostly related to Wetland habitat, though they do depict Wetland areas, and should be considered for development projects, but can also be a good resource for someone doing their own homework.

Finally, what if you want to skip the hard part and simply pay for a flood certification through a third party such as what a lender might do on your behalf? Not a bad idea. Online resources such as CoreLogic offer these services at a minimal cost.

Tayson is happy to provide sources for this information upon request.

Wetland: What Does It Mean and How Can It Impact My Property?

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