Roseville lauded for advanced flood protection

Three decades ago, Roseville made national news for devastating floods. Now the city is honored on the national stage as a model of flood protection. The 117-year-old Christian Science Monitor news agency published on Sept. 23 an in-depth story on Roseville flood protection efforts. While Roseville often ranks high or tops in places to live, the story points out the city is now tops in fighting floods. "There is another reason this railroad town now with some 160,000 residents gets such high accolades. After two decades of careful municipal planning, Roseville has no problem with flooding," writes Monitor environmental reporter Stephanie Hanes. During the 1980s and 1990s, the city attracted national news correspondents as creeks overflowed due to heavy rain with hundreds of homes destroyed. A quarter-century later, Roseville is regularly held up as a model while other cities across the nation increasingly focus on inland flooding risk. "Roseville is one of those communities that is ahead of the curve. They definitely got it," said David Feldman, professor of urban planning at UC Irvine, in the story. Roseville was the first city in the U.S. to receive the Federal Emergency Management Agency top rating for flood preparedness, and residents still receive discounts on home insurance policies because of it, the Monitor reported. Roseville analyzes flood risk by looking ahead to future development plans in addition to assessing current development, according to the report. For example, areas alongside Roseville's 78 miles of creeks tend to be open space, which helps manage fierce rains that happen when "an atmospheric river drops a fire hose of water on this city," the Monitor writes. "We were very mindful about not inducing any flood risk to the area. ... In all of our projects, we strive for having zero flood impact," Roseville floodplain manager Brian Walker told the Monitor. "You cannot depend on the cavalry coming to the rescue after a flood disaster. You cannot depend solely upon the government, and you certainly can't depend solely on flood insurance or even FEMA flood insurance. The risks are too great."