FEMA flood zone rules in Eagle County, CO — also called floodplain regulations or special flood hazard area (SFHA) rules — determine flood insurance requirements and elevation standards for new construction.
Eagle County, Colorado regulates floodplain development under Chapter II, Article 3, Section 3-350 (Floodplain Overlay Zone District) of the Eagle County Land Use Regulations. The County Engineering Department serves as the NFIP Floodplain Administrator for unincorporated Eagle County under FEMA Community Identification Number 080051. Special Flood Hazard Areas are mapped along the Eagle River, Colorado River, Gore Creek, Brush Creek, and other tributaries draining the central Colorado mountains, where steep terrain, snowmelt runoff, and ice jams produce high-energy flood risk. The Board of County Commissioners updated the floodplain regulations on December 8, 2025 through Resolution 2025-114, amending the Floodplain Overlay Zone District to align with current FEMA standards.
Floodplain regulation in unincorporated Eagle County is governed by Chapter II, Article 3, Section 3-350 of the Eagle County Land Use Regulations, titled the Floodplain Overlay (FO) Zone District. The Floodplain Overlay is a supplemental zoning layer applied on top of the underlying zone district wherever a Special Flood Hazard Area is mapped, and it also extends to areas removed from the floodplain by a FEMA Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F). The Eagle County Engineering Department administers the NFIP for unincorporated areas under FEMA Community ID 080051; the current countywide Flood Insurance Rate Maps were adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on January 4, 2005 and made effective by FEMA on December 4, 2007. A Floodplain Development Permit is required for ALL development within a designated floodplain in unincorporated Eagle County before any building, grading, road-cut, or access permit may be issued. 'Areas of Special Flood Hazard' are defined in the regulations as land in the floodplain subject to a one-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year (the base flood, or 100-year flood). Under the standard NFIP framework adopted into Section 3-350 and 44 CFR 60.3, new construction and substantial improvements within an SFHA must have the lowest floor elevated to or above the regulatory flood protection elevation, be anchored to resist flotation, collapse, and lateral movement, and use flood-resistant materials below that elevation. Substantial improvement or substantial damage equal to or exceeding 50% of market value triggers full compliance with current flood standards. Eagle County also enforces a separate stream-corridor protection rule requiring a 75-foot stream setback and protection of the 100-year floodplain in their natural state along regulated waterways. Resolution 2025-114, adopted December 8, 2025, amended the Floodplain Overlay Zone District to update standards, definitions, and procedures consistent with FEMA model ordinance language and Colorado Department of Natural Resources / Colorado Water Conservation Board floodplain rules (2 CCR 408-1). FIRM panels and the National Flood Hazard Layer for Eagle County can be viewed at the FEMA Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov), through the county's Interactive FEMA Floodplain Map, or through Colorado's coloradohazardmapping.com portal. Property owners who believe a structure is mistakenly mapped in an SFHA may apply to FEMA for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision (LOMR).
Construction, fill, grading, excavation, placement of structures, manufactured homes, or substantial improvement within a designated Special Flood Hazard Area in unincorporated Eagle County without an approved Floodplain Development Permit is a violation of Section 3-350 of the Eagle County Land Use Regulations. The Engineering Department and Community Development Department may issue stop-work orders, require corrective elevation, removal, or restoration of unpermitted work, deny or revoke certificates of occupancy, and pursue civil and criminal penalties available under Article 6 (Enforcement) of the Land Use Regulations and C.R.S. Title 30 county powers. Violations of the 75-foot stream setback or disturbance of the 100-year floodplain in its natural state are independently enforceable. Persistent non-compliance also exposes the community to NFIP probation or suspension by FEMA, which would eliminate access to subsidized federal flood insurance for property owners countywide. Federally backed mortgages on structures within a mapped SFHA require flood insurance; lapses can trigger lender force-placed coverage at higher cost.
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