The only real problem is that this was a decision made ad hoc.
People whose neighborhoods are likely to be flooded by such a decision should know years in advance that they are designated for it.
People whose neighborhoods are likely to be flooded by such a decision should know years in advance that they are designated for it.
>> People whose neighborhoods are likely to be flooded by such a decision should know years in advance that they are designated for it.
From the Article: "This land and many of the homes to the north and west of the dams are located in what’s known as the flood pool — the upstream portion of the reservoirs. [...] Many homeowners west of the Barker dam claim they didn’t know they were in a flood pool, that they hadn’t spotted the fine print on the bottom of some of their subdivision maps. (“Who looks at a subdivision map?” one resident asks.) The text of one such map reads, “This subdivision is adjacent to Barker Reservoir and is subject to extended controlled inundation under the management of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.” "
Sounds like they were told, but didn't care enough. Other parts of the article state that many lawyers are refusing to take a lot of these lawsuits b/c they were in regions that are marked for exactly this scenario.
Read further:
"[...] many of the lawyers involved in the litigation asked [...] to separate claims from the north and west areas—the upstream ones—from downstream ones, to the south and east. [...] Most lawyers agree that the downstream cases stand the best chance of winning"
So when you say "they were told", you only mean some and not even the primary litigants they were talking with and the lawyer-of-interest was focused on. So it's not a case of "didn't care enough" and saying that confuses an already confusing issue.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/09/0...
The gist of it is that people don't want their properties classified as being in a flood zone (flood insurance in a high risk area is necessarily expensive) and this does influence the maps.
And it's not so much the insurance as you having to build for the flood when you ask for a building permit.