Floodplain Management

Definition

Number of local governments participating in the Community Rating System by the NFIP

Why is it Important?

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides federally-backed flood insurance to residents and business owners.¹ Flood insurance is required for all buildings with a federally regulated or insured mortgage that are located in flood prone areas (areas with a one percent chance of flooding in any given year, also known as the 100-year flood zone). The Community Rating System (CRS) program encourages communities to increase floodplain management activities to reduce flood risk, and then awards the community’s residents with insurance premium discounts ranging from five percent up to 45 percent. The insurance discounts reflect the reduced flood risk due to the community’s additional floodplain management activities. Local government participation in the Community Rating System reflects efforts to reduce flooding risk and support local residents. 

How are we Doing?

Out of the 202 cities and counties in the St. Louis region, the number of local governments participating in the Community Rating System (CRS) increased from one in the baseline year of 2010 to eight in 2020. Eleven communities in the St. Louis region have participated in CRS at one time or another. In 2016, St. Clair County, IL (unincorporated areas) and Brentwood, MO began participating for the first time. O’Fallon, MO began participating in 2017, and most recently, in 2020, the Village of Swansea, IL began participating in the CRS. These communities have ratings of six, nine, nine, and seven, respectively, which provide their residents flood insurance premium discounts between 5 and 20 percent. Four additional communities that are continuing to participate are St. Charles County, MO (unincorporated areas); Roxana, IL; Florissant, MO; and Maryland Heights, MO. These communities have ratings of seven, eight, eight, and nine, respectively. As of 2021, approximately 12.3 percent of St. Louis area residents live in a CRS participating community.  

Geographic Level

St. Louis eight-county bi-state region, including Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties and the city of St. Louis in Missouri and Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair counties in Illinois. View map.

Notes

¹The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is available to residential and commercial owners and renters in communities that adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance, which in the St. Louis region includes all but seven communities.

Data Sources

Federal Emergency Management Agency