WildEarth Guardians

Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Suit Filed to Halt Development Along Arizona's Rivers

Suit Filed to Halt Development Along Arizona's Rivers
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

PHOENIX - Endangered wildlife that depend on rivers and riverside forests are harmed by a government program that insures and promotes development along Arizona’s rivers according to a western conservation group. WildEarth Guardians sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency on August 26th in conjunction with the agency’s administration of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) alleging the agency is violating the Endangered Species Act.

WildEarth Guardians claims that development along rivers harms species such as the jaguar and the Southwest willow flycatcher and likely wouldn’t occur absent the guarantee of federal insurance. Cities, towns and counties across Arizona from Fort Huachuca along the San Pedro River, to Camp Verde along the Verde River each participate in the federally subsidized insurance program in exchange for adopting certain minimal land-use controls.

“Floodplain development enabled by the government’s decision to provide insurance fragments and mars one of Arizona’s most sensitive and valuable landscapes-rivers and riverside forests,†said John Horning, Executive Director of WildEarth Guardians. “Our rivers, threatened by so many activities, deserve better protection,†added Horning.

FEMA, which has administered the NFIP since 1973, has complied with the Endangered Species Act by ensuring that the decision to provide flood insurance does not harm endangered species in only a handful of instances, and even then only begrudgingly.

A recent study of the environmental effect of the NFIP nationally by the American Institutes for Research concluded that: “providing flood insurance through the NFIP to entities wishing to develop within the 1 percent flood plain may be inconsistent with the conservation of endangered and threatened species of fish, wildlife and plants in aquatic and riparian ecosystems.â€

“Protecting floodplains doesn’t just make environmental sense it also makes economic sense and it’s good public policy,†said Horning. “We shouldn’t be protecting people from living in flood prone areas, especially when public safety is at risk. Development along rivers is a huge problem and it needs to be addressed on a national, regional and local level.â€

According to figures provided by FEMA, more than 35,000 properties worth $7.7 billion in commercial and residential property along Arizona’s rivers and flood prone areas are insured under the program.

WildEarth Guardians’ suit says FEMA should formally consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the effects of the program on endangered species like the Jaguar, Razorback sucker and Southwest willow flycatcher and many others.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of lawsuits across the West targeting the NFIP where much of the new urban and suburban development and growth is taking place without little to no analysis of its effects on the environment.

View the suit.