The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is a federal program that enables property owners to purchase flood insurance. Established by Congress through the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, the NFIP is operated under the jurisdiction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This flood insurance is designed to provide an alternative to federal disaster assistance for property damage caused by floods. Flood insurance is generally unavailable through private-sector insurance companies.

In Colorado, there are currently more than 19,000 flood insurance policies in effect, which ranks 10th in the nation for the greatest number of policies. In addition, 240 communities in Colorado participate in the NFIP.

State Community Assistance Program (CAP)
The Community Assistance Program (CAP) is a product-oriented financial assistance program directly related to the flood loss reduction objectives of the NFIP. States and communities that are participating in the NFIP are eligible for this assistance.

The CAP is currently managed by the CWCB Watershed Protection and Flood Mitigation section and is intended to identify, prevent and resolve floodplain management issues in participating communities before they develop into problems requiring enforcement action. CWCB staff provide technical assistance to communities and evaluate community performance in implementing NFIP floodplain management activities with the additional goal of building state and community floodplain management expertise and capabilities.

In Colorado, this program has been in existence for more than 20 years. It has been effective in helping communities to understand and realize the benefits of the NFIP and to assist in making sure that they follow the program guidelines for the highest benefits.

Did You Know?
Most homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover losses from flooding. The only way to get federally-backed flood coverage is through the NFIP.

The Community Rating System (CRS) The objective of the Community Rating System (CRS) is to reward communities doing more than the minimum NFIP requirements to prevent or reduce flood losses and to provide incentives for communities to improve their flood protection programs. Under the CRS, flood insurance premium rates are lowered when a community takes extra action to reduce flood damages. The insurance savings can range from 5% to 45%. Most practices are implemented at the local level to get credits, although some state and district program activities can increase local credits.

In Colorado, 45 of the 240 Colorado communities in the NFIP are currently in the CRS.