Improving the National Flood Insurance Program

The time is right for improved wetlands protection through effective floodplain management. As legislation addressing the National Flood Insurance Program labors through Congress, conservationists are urging decisionmakers to rectify the disparity that has long existed between the congressional intent of the program and its practical implementation. Despite the NFIP's mandate to guide new development out of the floodplain, development along the nation's coastal regions has skyrocketed in the past 40 years, as 30 million people have migrated to the coasts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that approximately 20 million more people will be living in coastal counties in the year 2000 than in 1980, marking a 24 percent increase. Because wetlands are primary features of coastal floodplains, the impact on these areas from this onslaught of development is immense.