Oregon Public Broadcasting

Several local environmental groups have settled a lawsuit against FEMA. The federal agency provides flood insurance in high risk areas that private insurers avoid. Amelia Templeton reports.

Insuring homes, businesses, and developments against floods seems like a good idea. But local environmental groups say that federally subsidized flood insurance encourages reckless development along rivers and lake shores.

Bob Sallinger is with the Audubon Society, one of the groups that sued FEMA. He says that development along rivers takes away the shallow areas that salmon need to survive.

Bob Sallinger: "If they don't have that shallow water habitat along the edges, their survivability goes way way down. And the floodplains are really part of that habitat."

The settlement means that developers who want flood insurance will now have to show they are taking into account their impact on endangered fish.