Frequently Asked Questions
- Is my property located in a floodplain?
- What do the different flood zone designations mean?
- What is a 100-year storm?
- How is AMAFCA funded?
- How do I get trash cleaned up from an arroyo?
- What mapping or design resources does AMAFCA have available for check-out?
- How do I make a request under the Inspection of Public Records Act?
- Where can I get sandbags?
- How do you fill a sandbag/how do you stack sandbags?
Is my property located in a floodplain?
If you live in Albuquerque, you can find out by contacting the City Floodplain Administrator, Curtis Cherne at 924-3995 (phone), 924-3864 (fax). For outside city limits, contact the County Floodplain Administrator, Don Briggs at 848-1511 (phone), 848-1510 (fax). Please also read Floodplain Determination at the City of Albuquerque website. A portion of the South Valley was recently changed to a lesser flood zone, as described on this page of the Bernalillo County website. Bernalillo County also has a list of Floodplain Administrators for many surrounding areas.
What do the different flood zone designations mean?
Go to this FEMA webpage for the flood zone codes and answers to other FAQs regarding flood zones and floodplains.
What is a 100-year storm?
The hundred-year storm is better defined as a storm that has a one percent chance of occurring in any given year. Over a 10-year period, there is almost a 10% chance of such a storm. Over a 30-year period (the length of a typical home mortgage), there is a 26% chance of such a storm. Depending on your location in Albuquerque, a hundred-year storm is defined as between 2.2 and 2.9 inches of rain within six hours.
How is AMAFCA funded?
AMAFCA’s sole source of revenue is the ad valorem (property) tax. Only about three to four percent of the total property tax goes to AMAFCA.
How do I get trash cleaned up from an arroyo?
First check the Facilities Maintenance Map or AMAFCA's Interactive Facilities Map to determine who maintains the arroyo. Then call us at 884-2215 if it is maintained by AMAFCA, or, if it is maintained by the City, call City Arroyo Maintenance at 857-8250 or City Storm Drain Maintenance at 291-6214. See our Reporting a Problem page for more information and other contact numbers.
What mapping or design resources does AMAFCA have available for check-out?
You may check out CDs containing digital orthophotos (1999 or 2004), 1' or 2' contours (1999 with limited 2004 updates), and digital surfaces (1999) at AMAFCA.
Bernalillo County has 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2001 and 1999 orthophotos available for immediate download online, along with a number of shapefiles.
For more information about these datasets and others, including surface models and contours, go to Bernalillo County’s GIS Program webpage. From that page, there are links to download GIS Data, GIS Maps, Orthoimagery, the Zone Atlas, Zoning Permits, and Surface Models & Contours.
How do I make a request under the Inspection of Public Records Act?
Records subject to the Inspection of Public Records Act may be requested from the Records Custodian at AMAFCA, Executive Administrative Assistant Pamela Woodruff.
See the "Notice of Right to Inspect Public Records" for further information.
Where can I get sandbags ?
Sandbags are available at City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County Fire Stations. They are handed out empty - you will need to fill them yourself.
How do you fill a sandbag/how do you stack sandbags?
To be effective, a sandbag dike must be built correctly. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers offers these instructions on how to fill and stack sandbags. A video on the procedure is posted here, and a slide show on the proper way to use sandbags is posted here (the slide show file is about 9.4 MB in size - we recommend you save it to your computer rather than trying to open it in your browser).