Camden County, MO Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Floodplain development in unincorporated Camden County is governed by the Camden County Floodplain Management Ordinance (Ordinance No. 60.3, dated December 28, 2017), enacted under the authority of Chapter 64 RSMo (county planning and zoning) and the NFIP standards in 44 CFR 60.3. The ordinance is administered by Floodplain Administrator Tanna R. Wirtz at the Camden County Lake Area Planning and Zoning Department, 182 HaHa Tonka Cut Thru, Camdenton, MO 65020 (phone 573-346-4440 ext. 1350 or 573-317-3860). Camden County entered the NFIP under FEMA Community ID 290789, and the City of Camdenton participates separately under CID 290742; the countywide DFIRM panels are in the 29029C series. Special Flood Hazard Areas in the county follow the Osage River, the Niangua River, the Big Niangua arm, the Glaize arm, Linn Creek, Grandglaize Creek, and numerous tributary coves of Lake of the Ozarks. A separate but related layer of regulation applies to the lake itself: Lake of the Ozarks is the impoundment behind Bagnell Dam, owned and operated by Ameren Missouri under Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project No. 459. Ameren operates the lake to a full-pool elevation of approximately 660 feet (Union Electric Datum) under a FERC-approved Guide Curve, and FERC accepted Ameren's revised Shoreline Management Plan establishing the federal project boundary at the 662-foot contour. Camden County's Unified Land-Use Code (ULUC) defines setback as the minimum horizontal distance between the property line, road right-of-way, or 662-foot contour line of the Lake of the Ozarks (whichever is more restrictive) and the nearest side of any structure, so structures must be set back from the higher of those lines. Land below the 662-foot contour is owned by Ameren Missouri, and shoreline activities (docks, seawalls, vegetation removal, water-intake pumps) require Ameren shoreline permits in addition to county floodplain permits. Under the Floodplain Management Ordinance and 44 CFR 60.3, a Floodplain Development Permit is required before any construction, addition, fill, grading, mining, dredging, placement of a manufactured home, or other land disturbance within a mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, and must be issued before any building permit. New construction and substantial improvements within an SFHA must have the lowest floor (including basement) elevated to or above the regulatory base flood elevation, must be properly anchored against flotation, collapse, and lateral movement, and must use flood-resistant materials below that elevation. Substantial improvement or substantial damage equal to or exceeding 50 percent of market value triggers full compliance with current flood standards. The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) released revised Lake of the Ozarks flood risk data on March 26, 2025, and held a Flood Risk Review Meeting #2 on March 28, 2025, with a public comment period open through May 12, 2025. The updated study incorporates lake bathymetry data that, according to SEMA, lowered modeled flood elevations across most areas of the lake compared with the initial preliminary results, though preliminary FIRMs and a separate 90-day comment window remain pending.