Recently it was announced that there would be new FEMA maps for the City of Petaluma, detailing the areas of the city where flood insurance would be required. It was hoped that the new maps would reflect all the work done on the Petaluma River in the Payran area to relieve the flooding situation there. In talking with the Planning Department at the City of Petaluma, I was told there are no new maps, just better old maps that show more accurate boundaries and allow the maps to be overlaid onto topographical maps. While this is an improvement, it still doesn’t address the issue of “when are the people in the Payran area going to stop paying for flood insurance”. And the answer is when the Corp of Engineers officially completes the flood control project, which right now is over 90% complete. Only then will the flood maps be modified to reflect the Payran area flood control project.

Posted By: Edward Reiners