FEMA Flood Zones: San Francisco Bay Area, California, 2001

Description:

This polygon shapefile depicts Q3 Flood Data features of FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) product for the nine county San Francisco Bay Area Region, California. Digital Q3 Flood Data has been developed by scanning the existing FIRM hardcopy and vectorizing a thematic overlay of flood risks. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) produced two flood map products using Geographic Information System (GIS) technology in support of the National Flood Insurance Program: 1) Q3 Flood Data; and 2) Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs). As part of Flood Map Modernization, FEMA will now only update or produce DFIRMs. The digital Q3 Flood Data product was designed to: 1) Serve the needs of FEMA's Response and Recovery activities after flood disaster; 2) Promote flood insurance policy marketing initiatives; and 3) Assist in floodplain management activities at the local level. The vector Q3 Flood Data files contain only certain features from the existing FIRM hardcopy. The State of California and the Resources Agency make no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy of data or maps. This dataset was developed/compiled for use in the San Francisco Bay Area Upland Habitat Goals Project, a Project used to identify a Conservation Lands Network (CLN) for biodiversity preservation to inform conservation investments and lasting cooperative conservation partnerships. The Conservation Lands Network GIS Database is the primary output of the Project. The data depicts the spatially explicit CLN that is recommended for the nine county San Francisco Bay Area Region, California. Bay Area Open Space Council, GreenInfo Network, Conservation Lands Network, and San Francisco Bay Area Upland Habitat Goals Project. (2011). FEMA Flood Zones: San Francisco Bay Area, California, 2001. Bay Area Open Space Council. Available at http://purl.stanford.edu/wz946gr9760. Source metadata and data available at: https://www.fema.gov/media-library/assets/documents/3846

The digital Q3 Flood Data are designed to serve FEMA's needs for disaster response activities, National Flood Insurance Program activities, risk a ssessment, and floodplain management. The data are expected to be used for a variety of planning applications including broad-based review for floodplain management, land-use planning, commercial site analysis, insurance target marketing, natural resource/environmental analyses, and real estate development and targeting. Because digital Q3 Flood Data are controlled to the USGS 1:24,000 scale maps, they may not be detailed enough for some uses. The hardcopy Flood Insurance Rate Map or Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map should be used to make official determinations, especially if a property is close to the boundary of the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area. Because of the scale of the digital Q3 Flood Data, it cannot be used to determine absolute delineations of flood risk boundaries. It is especially important to understand the "buffer" that FEMA recommends users apply to the floodplain boundary. The buffer is 250 feet outside of the floodplain boundary line. Users should refer to the official hardcopy map if a site of interest falls in the buffer. See the "Q3 Flood Data Users Guide" and "Q3 Flood Data Specifications" for more information. This layer is presented in the WGS84 coordinate system for web display purposes. Downloadable data are provided in native coordinate system or projection.

Resource Link:

https://purl.stanford.edu/wz946gr9760

Identifier:

https://purl.stanford.edu/wz946gr9760

Language:

English

Creator:

Bay Area Open Space Council, Conservation Lands Network, San Francisco Bay Area Upland Habitat Goals Project, and GreenInfo Network (Firm)

Publisher:

Bay Area Open Space Council

Provider:

Stanford

Resource Class:

Datasets

Subject:

Hydrography, Floods, Floodplain management, Ecological risk assessment, Boundaries, Environment, and Inland Waters

Temporal Coverage:

2001

Date Issued:

2011

Spatial Coverage:

San Francisco Bay (Calif.), San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.), Alameda County (Calif.), Contra Costa County (Calif.), Marin County (Calif.), Napa County (Calif.), San Francisco County (Calif.), San Mateo County (Calif.), Santa Clara County (Calif.), Solano County (Calif.), and Sonoma County (Calif.)

Access Rights:

Public

Format:

Shapefile