Hydrology Section
The Hydrology section is responsible for determining the storm drainage requirements for development projects in the City of Albuquerque and is the Official FEMA Flood Plain Administer for the City of Albuquerque.
Hydrology can help with the following subjects as they pertain to storm drainage:
- Development Review Board (DRB) submittals to determine if drainage infrastructure or easements are required.
- Construction plans as part of the Design Review Committee process.
- Environmental Planning Commission (EPC) submittals.
- Grading and Drainage Plans for Building Permits, Paving Permits and Grading Permits.
- Permit sets for both commercial and residential sites.
- Flood zone information.
The City has two ordinances that address storm drainage; The Flood Control Ordinance and the Drainage Ordinance (14-5-1 and 14-5-2). 
For information on drainage design, please refer to the Development Process Manual.
The Hydrology Section is the City's connection to FEMA 
for floodplain management and the National Flood Insurance Program.
New FEMA maps will be issued in August of 2012. Some properties will be removed from a flood zone, but some properties will be put into a flood zone. FEMA created an interactive web page to see the flood zone changes http://www.riskmap6.com/NM/Bernalillo/ 
. For more information, please contact anyone on the Hydrology staff.
Hydrology Staff Contacts:
Section Manager, Curtis Cherne, P.E., CFM, Principal Engineer, 505-924-3986
Drainage Engineer, Shahab Biazar, P.E., Senior Engineer, 505-924-3695
Engineering Associate, Rudy Rael, 505-924-3977
Plan Checker, Tim Sims, 505-924-3982