Flooding in the Carson River Watershed is a natural, regularly occurring process. It is also one of the most devastating and costly natural events that our communities face. Serious flooding can happen every 10-20 years and often occurs after rain-on-snow events or summer thunderstorms. The Carson River is unique in that it has extremely limited upstream water storage capacity or capability and contains no flood-control structures. However, open floodplains, especially in Hope Valley, Carson Valley, and Dayton Valley, provide our watershed with the best flood control mechanisms available!
Check out our “Floodplains As Community Assets” videos below:
During a flood, open floodplain benefits our watershed by storing and slowing floodwaters. This helps protect our natural resources such as drinking water and wildlife habitat and helps avoids costly damage to structures associated with more developed lands. Protecting the natural functions and values of our floodplain areas is central to maintaining a “living river” and limiting devastating property loss from flooding in our watershed. 
At the staff level, CWSD’s Watershed Program Manager works closely with our CRC partners in coordinating, planning and identifying funding sources for solutions that reduce our flood risk and protect our floodplain. CWSD’s Water Resource Specialist II works with local staff to write and manage grants for completing numerous plans and studies and to conduct risk-communication outreach.
Stakeholder coordination occurs through CRC Floodplain Management Working Group meetings, CRC Forums and bus tours. The Floodplain Management Working Group serves as the steering committee for the Carson River Watershed Floodplain Management Plan (Plan). The original floodplain management plan was adopted by the Watershed’s five river counties in 2008 and is updated every five years. Since 2018, all six counties have adopted the Plan. The current update includes suggested actions for mitigating flood hazards and improving watershed health.
In 2005, CWSD signed its Cooperative Technical Partner Agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In 2012, the river-adjacent counties and State and Federal agencies entered into a Risk MAP Charter agreement with FEMA. The Charter enables FEMA, CWSD, and counties to work on flood-related issues at the watershed level versus county by county. This was the first Charter agreement in FEMA Region 9 and is a blueprint for other regional cooperative programs.