Introduction

Executive Summary

The following jurisdictions have prepared and adopted this 2021 update of the Jefferson County Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP):

• Jefferson County

• City of Arvada

• City of Edgewater

• City of Golden

• City of Lakewood

• Town of Morrison

• City of Wheat Ridge

• Arvada Fire Protection District

• Elk Creek Fire Protection District

• Evergreen Fire Protection District

• Fairmount Fire Protection District

• Foothills Fire Protection District

• Genesee Fire Protection District

• Golden Gate Fire Protection District

• Indian Hills Fire Protection District

• Inter-Canyon Fire Protection District

• Jefferson Conservation District

• Lookout Mountain Water District

• North Fork Fire Protection District

• West Metro Fire Protection District

• Denver Water

The purpose of hazard mitigation is to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from disasters or hazardous events. Studies have found that hazard mitigation is extremely cost-effective, with every dollar spent on mitigation saving an average of $6 in avoided future losses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires that hazard mitigation plans be updated every five years for the jurisdictions to be eligible for federal mitigation assistance. All sections of the 2016 Jefferson County Hazard Mitigation Plan were reviewed and updated to address natural and human-caused hazards for the purpose of saving lives and reducing losses from future disasters or hazard events.

This Plan will serve as a blueprint for coordinating and implementing hazard mitigation policies, programs, and projects in Jefferson County. It provides a list of mitigation goals and related actions that may assist Jefferson County and its municipalities in reducing risk and preventing loss from future hazard events.

The impacts of hazards can often be lessened or even avoided if appropriate actions are taken before events occur. By reducing exposure to known hazard risks, communities will save lives and property and minimize the social, economic, and environmental disruptions that commonly follow hazard events.

This Plan was also developed to maintain Jefferson County’s and participating jurisdictions’ eligibility for federal disaster assistance, specifically the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA), Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grants including the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), and Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program, as well as the Rehabilitation of High Hazard Potential Dam (HHPD) grant program.

Section contains the Plan Introduction and Executive Summary.

Section Community Profile describes the planning area, consisting of Jefferson County and the participating jurisdictions listed above, with updated information on demographics, social vulnerability, and changes in development. It includes an assessment of programs and policies currently in place across the County to reduce hazard impacts or that could be used to implement hazard mitigation activities, and identifies opportunities to enhance those capabilities.

Section Planning Process describes the process followed to update the Plan. A broad range of public and private stakeholders, including agencies, local businesses, nonprofits, and other interested parties were invited to participate. Public input was sought throughout the planning process including online surveys and public review of the draft Plan.

Section Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment identifies the natural and human-caused hazards of greatest concern to the County, and describes the risk from those hazards. The information generated through the risk assessment helps communities to prioritize and focus their efforts on those hazards of greatest concern and those assets or areas facing the greatest risk(s). The best available information on

the impacts of changing weather conditions were taken into account for each hazard. The hazards profiled in the 2021 Plan and their assessed significance are shown in the following table.

Table 1-1 Hazards Identification Summary

Hazard	Geographic Extent	Probability of Future Occurrence	Potential Severity/Magnitude	Overall Significance
Avalanche	Negligible	Unlikely	Negligible	Low
Cyber Attack	Significant	Likely	Limited	Medium
Dam Failure	Significant	Occasional	Critical	High
Drought	Extensive	Likely	Critical	Medium
Earthquake	Significant	Unlikely	Catastrophic	Medium
Erosion and Deposition	Significant	Likely	Critical	Medium
Expansive Soils	Extensive	Likely	Limited	Medium
Extreme Temperatures	Extensive	Likely	Limited	Low
Flood	Limited	Likely	Critical	High
Hailstorm	Significant	Likely	Critical	High
Landslide/Debris/Rockfall	Limited	Likely	Limited-Negligible	Medium
Lightning	Limited	Highly Likely	Limited	Medium
Pandemic	Extensive	Occasional	Critical	High
Severe Winter Storms	Extensive	Likely	Critical	High
Subsidence	Limited	Occasional	Limited	Medium
Tornado	Limited	Likely	Limited	Medium
Wildfire	Significant	Highly Likely	Critical	High
Windstorm	Significant	Highly Likely	Limited	Medium

Section Mitigation Strategy describes what the County and jurisdictions will do to reduce their vulnerability to the hazards identified in Section 4. It presents the goals and objectives of the mitigation program, and details a broad range of targeted mitigation actions to reduce losses from hazard events.

Section Plan Implementation and Maintenance details how the Plan will be implemented, monitored, evaluated, and updated, as well as how the mitigation program will be integrated into other planning mechanisms.

Following the base plan, annexes for each participating jurisdiction go into greater detail about how the risk from natural and human-caused hazards varies across the planning area, and lists each jurisdictions’ identified mitigation actions.

It is important that local decision-makers stay involved in mitigation planning to provide new ideas and insight for future updates to the Jefferson County Hazard Mitigation Plan. As a long-term goal, the Hazard Mitigation Plan and the mitigation strategies identified within will be fully integrated into daily decisions and routines of local government. This will continue to require dedication and hard work, and to this end, this Plan update continues efforts to further strengthen the resiliency of Jefferson County.

Background

Each year in the United States, disasters take the lives of hundreds of people and injure thousands more. Nationwide, taxpayers pay billions of dollars annually to help communities, organizations, businesses, and individuals recover from disasters. Additional expenses to insurance companies and

nongovernmental organizations are not reimbursed by tax dollars, making the costs of disasters several times higher than calculated amounts. shows the number and type of natural disasters in the US that have done more than one billion dollars in damage, showing how the frequency and cost of major disasters have risen over the past several decades.

Figure 1-1 Billion-Dollar Disasters in the US, 1980-2018

Source: NOAA

However, some types of hazards are predictable, and much of the damage caused by these events can be mitigated through the use of various zoning, construction and permitting vehicles and other preventative actions. Hazard mitigation planning is the process through which hazards that threaten communities are identified, likely impacts of those hazards are determined, mitigation goals are set, and appropriate strategies to lessen impacts are determined, prioritized, and implemented. Hazard mitigation is defined by FEMA as “any sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to human life and property from a hazard event.” The results of a three-year, congressionally mandated independent study to assess future savings from mitigation activities provides evidence that mitigation activities are highly cost-effective. On average, each dollar spent on mitigation saves society an average of $6 in avoided future losses in addition to saving lives and preventing injuries, as illustrated in

This plan was prepared pursuant to the requirements of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-390) and the implementing regulations set forth by the Interim Final Rule published in the Federal Register on February 26, 2002 (44 CFR §201.6) and finalized on October 31, 2007. Hereafter, these requirements and regulations will be referred to collectively as the Disaster Mitigation Act or DMA. While the act emphasized the need for mitigation plans and more coordinated mitigation planning and implementation efforts, the regulations established the requirements that local hazard mitigation plans must meet in order for a local jurisdiction to be eligible for certain federal disaster assistance and hazard mitigation funding under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Act (Public Law 93-288).

Figure 1-2 Financial Benefits of Hazard Mitigation

Source: National Institute of Building Sciences, Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2019 Report

This plan builds on almost 20 years of mitigation planning in Jefferson County, starting with participation in the 2003 Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) Hazard Mitigation Plan. Jefferson County developed its first stand-alone HMP in 2010, updated the plan in 2016, and has again updated it in 2021.

This plan is a comprehensive update to the 2016 plan. Information in this plan will be used to help guide and coordinate mitigation activities and decisions for local land use policy in the future. Proactive mitigation planning will help reduce the cost of disaster response and recovery to the community and its property owners by protecting critical community facilities, reducing liability exposure, and minimizing overall community impacts and disruption. The Jefferson County planning area is committed to reducing future disaster impacts and maintaining eligibility for federal funding.

Purpose and Scope

Jefferson County and the participating jurisdictions have prepared this multi-hazard mitigation plan to better protect the people and property of the County from the effects of hazard events. This plan demonstrates the community’s commitment to reducing risks from hazards and serves as a tool to help decision-makers direct mitigation activities and resources. This plan was also developed to position Jefferson County and its participating jurisdictions for the eligibility of certain federal mitigation funding assistance, specifically, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Assistance grant programs (HMA), which include Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA). This plan also aligns with the planning elements of the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System (CRS), which provides for lower flood insurance premiums in CRS-participating communities.

Jefferson County remains dedicated to implementing the actions and strategies outlined in this updated Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Plan will be maintained regularly to address changes in hazards or vulnerabilities, and will be updated within the next five years.