The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in collaboration with Ventura County local communities has been conducting a Flood Insurance Re-Study (FIS) for the Santa Clara River watershed. The study area covers the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Paula, Fillmore, and the county unincorporated areas. A Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) was released on September 26, 2014. In May 2018, a flood risk review meeting was held in Ventura to introduce the preliminary maps and collect comments from local communities. Since the release of the preliminary FIRM, the Ventura County Public Works Agency-Watershed Protection and the cities have worked together to perform technical reviews and submit appeals to FEMA to ensure the flood hazard mapping products are produced using the latest technologies and are based on the best available information. Incorporating the review comments and technical appeals, FEMA released a Revised Preliminary FIRM on July 31, 2020. Local communities had 30-days to comment on the revised preliminary maps followed by a 90-day appeal period. The appeal period began on March 11, 2021 and ended June 9, 2021. Given the number and nature of comments received, FEMA released a second set of revised preliminary maps on August 19, 2022. FEMA published the notice of proposed flood hazards for the second appeal period on December 21, 2022 and the 90 day appeal ended on March 21, 2023.
You can find the Preliminary FIRM at: https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/prelimdownload/
