FLOOD POTENTIAL AREAS

JUSTIFICATION FOR USE:

Another important factor we considered in determining areas that were most suitable for development was the presence of flood potential areas. We decided that developing in a flood potential area could have a dramatic impact on the water quality and quantity of the Ichetucknee Basin, as well as being a poor choice from a developer's standpoint. We felt that it was crucial for us to identify flood potential areas and to not allow development in them.

PROCESS:

This information layer was created from many different sources of information all of which were available to us in a digital format from the Florida Geographic Data Library (FGDL). Because there was no 100-year flood plain data available to us in a digital format we decided to create a flood potential coverage based on information available from many different sources. We included factors such as areas with hydric soils, areas with hydric vegetation present, rivers and lakes and low-lying areas near and around them, as well as some other factors. While we got all of the data from FGDL, it is important to note that they were not the creators of these information layers. There were many different agencies involved who originally created the coverages we used, and they, in turn, gave them to the Geoplan Center for use in the FGDL. To create this layer we selected areas from several different information layers that we felt would be susceptible to flooding. We then combined these areas with the areas selected from all of the other maps into one map showing areas of high flood potential. The information from this coverage was used differently than most of the others. This coverage, along with the Conservation Lands, Wetland Areas, and Archaeological and Historical Sites, was used to eliminate areas from consideration. These four coverages acted together to "mask out" those areas that, for some reason or another, were highly inappropriate for development and so should not be considered.

RESULTS:

The result of our work is a map (pictured below) that shows the three county area with all of the flood potential areas identified. This map then became one of many different information layers that were weighted and combined to give us our Residential and Commercial Intermediate Suitability Maps.