El Paso, TX Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

El Paso enacted its current Flood Damage Prevention chapter, Chapter 18.60, through Ord. No. 019528, § 1, on August 1, 2023, replacing the prior flood ordinance. Section 18.60.070 sets the geographic reach: 'This chapter shall apply to all areas of special flood hazard within the jurisdiction of the city.' Those areas are defined by reference in § 18.60.080 to FEMA's 'Flood Insurance Study for the City of El Paso,' with its accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Boundary-Floodway Maps, 'utilizing the most current effective documents and any revisions thereto.' Section 18.60.090 creates the enforcement mechanism: 'Development permits shall be used to ensure conformance with the provisions of this chapter,' and § 18.60.100 makes that mandatory -- 'No structure or land shall hereafter be located, altered, or have its use changed without full compliance with the terms of this chapter and other applicable regulations.' A Texas-licensed professional engineer serves as floodplain administrator under § 18.60.140, reviewing every permit application against nine factors listed in § 18.60.180(B), from flood and erosion danger to the compatibility of the proposed use with the comprehensive plan.

Where the floodplain administrator denies a permit, § 18.60.180(C) lets the appeals officer hear a variance request, though variances are barred outright inside a designated floodway if they would raise flood levels at all, per § 18.60.180(C)(8). Section 18.60.230 separately forbids fill, new construction, or substantial improvements within an adopted regulatory floodway unless engineering analysis shows no increase in flood levels during the base flood.