Floodplain Management

The state of Kentucky authorizes the Kentucky Division of Water to oversee floodplain development. Any development near a stream in Kentucky requires a floodplain permit from the state, including activities such as building residential or commercial structures, constructing stream crossings, altering or relocating streams, and creating small stream impoundments. The state's floodplain development requirements can be found in Kentucky Administrative Regulations 401 KAR 4:060

Communities that are part of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) must issue local floodplain permits in addition to state permits. To understand the specific development requirements for your community or to apply for a local permit, please contact the local floodplain coordinator.

Local Floodplain Coordinator

PDS serves as the local floodplain coordinator for all jurisdictions within Kenton County, except Covington and Erlanger.

All of Kenton County, excluding Covington and Erlanger:

Rob Himes, Codes Administrator 
Planning and Development of Kenton County
1840 Simon Kenton Way, Suite 3400
Covington, KY 41011
Email: Rob Himes
Telephone: 859-331-8980

City of Covington:

859-292-2119

City of Erlanger:

859-727-7628

Flood Risk Maps

FEMA creates Flood Insurance Studies and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) based on the latest scientific data to identify flood hazards. These resources are used to determine when floodplain development regulations and insurance requirements apply to structures. 

Existing Structures within the Floodplain

To learn more about Elevation Certificates, Improvements to structures within the Floodplain, Flood Preparedness and related resources, see Existing Structures within the floodplain.

Development within the Floodplain

Any construction activity taking place within a designated floodplain required both a state and a local floodplain permit prior to construction. Typical activities permitted are dams, bridges, culverts, residential and commercial buildings, placement of fill, stream alterations or relocations, small impoundments and water and wastewater treatment plants.

State Stream Construction Permit

Kentucky Division of Water Stream Construction Permits must first be signed by the local floodplain manager prior to submission to KDOW. For those communities listed above for which PDS provides services, please contact Rob Himes, at rhimes@pdskc.org for application review and signature. A completed application form, project location map and drawings of the proposed project must be provided for review and signature.

Local Floodplain Permit

Once a KDOW permit has been issued by the Kentucky Division of Water, a local floodplain permit must be obtained. Submit a local floodplain permit, along with application fee to PDS through our OSS permitting office.

Local Floodplain Regulations

New homes or commercial buildings located within a floodplain must adhere to special regulations which may include elevating the structure, ensuring proper fill compaction, waterproofing the structure, elevating mechanical and electrical systems and providing flood vents or open areas at the ground level of the structure. Consult with PDS or your local floodplain administrator and review your local floodplain regulations [ER3] to determine how to proceed with your project. Click here to see zoning ordinances related to Local Floodplain Regualtions.

Division of Water Online Submissions

The Division of Water has developed online eForms for submission of documents (e.g., applications, NOD responses, extension requests, final construction reports, etc. in PDF, Word, and many other formats) to the Dam Safety (Form 213) and Floodplain/Water Quality Certification (Form 212) Sections. This method is more secure and will allow for more timely review of future projects than submitting by mail or email, and you receive a record of your submission for tracking purposes. If you do not already have a Kentucky Online Government (KOG)/eForms account, you must first create one. The KOG account can also be used for doing business with the state for other purposes and for submitting permit applications or reports to other programs within DEP/DNR.

Please consider using the eForms to help us provide quicker service to you. See the Kentucky Division of Water for links to account creation and to the available eForms.