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19 The storm sewer design criterion, adopted in 1999, ensures all new subdivisions and industrial/commercial developments account for storm sewer detention and on-site drainage issues. GOAL 6.2: Provide adequate drainage/prevent flooding Flooding cannot be prevented. It is cost prohibitive to design all or most facilities to withstand or prevent flooding. As such we design to combat up to a certain level of flooding. Typically, that is the 1 % chance storm. The City maintains the master drainage plan as presented in the Comprehensive Plan and amended by subsequent drainage studies for specific watersheds. Much work and cooperation on existing and proposed drainage channels and systems is sought with HCFCD. HCFCD has shown a willingness to cooperate with the City on the construction and use of the regional detention pond for the Bl12 system to be located south of Fairmont Parkway. Also, HCFCD is traditionally responsive to the major maintenance needs of existing channels when a lack of maintenance can be demonstrated to adversely affect structures. The City has a history of entering into cost sharing inter-local agreements to revamp existing drainage structures or constructing new ones. Also, due to a recent road log swap with Harris County Precinct 2, it has become apparent that a drainage maintenance plan needs to be reactivated for the former Bay MUD streets that recently came into the City's maintenance responsibility. A complete survey of this system will be completed in late 2006 with work scheduled through Public Works to improve the system by the end of the year. GOAL 6.3: Design drainage facilities for safety A 4 H: 1 V side slope for all detention ponds has been adopted, in part, given that the milder the side slope of the detention pond or channel, the safer the environment and easier to maintain. Also, when a development is submitted for review, the velocities of the storm water are checked to ensure that they remain under 8 feet per second (fps) which is considered the maximum safe flow of water for drainage purposes. Additionally, the requirement of safety end treatments (SET) has been proposed in the access management criteria currently under review. The Public Works Department responds to citizen complaints and inspects drainage systems for efficiency and debris removal. Each section of the city is inspected in a rotation set by the Public Works Department. TXDOT requires the use of SETs on driveway culverts installed in a roadside ditch configuration for safety purposes. La Porte is proposing to adopt the same criteria. I GOAL 6.4: Improve public awareness of the City's drainage systems Drawing from data collected after Tropical Storm Allison, FEMA initiated draft changes to the flood plain maps used by the City of La Porte which were published in late 2005. These draft maps were put on display in the lobby of City Hall after a series of public hearings were concluded. The intent of the hearings were to educate the public on the flood data collected and future drainage projects conceived to reduce the impacts of that data. The City of La Porte responded to FEMA with concerns and other input to the maps in order to assist in the preparation of the final flood plain maps in early 2006. Using new Geographic Information System (GIS) technology, the current flood plain maps used by the City of La Porte are now available to the public via access to the City's website. Residents can view their property either by map or photographic aerial view within the GIS mapping portion of the site and assess what flood zone is assigned to the property. Another property incorporated into the GIS mapping is the ability to view the location of every major drainage channel within the City. As regional detention facilities are constructed, their locations and dimensions will be added to the mapping system.