Flood Zones and Drainage
Is Manvel in a Flood Zone? The Two-Foot Rule, Akery Lake and the Map for One Lot
Updated September 2026
Bottom line: Manvel requires a new home in a mapped flood zone to have its lowest floor at least two feet above the base flood elevation. Whether a particular lot sits in one of those zones is read from the FEMA flood map for that address.
Is Manvel in a flood zone?
Parts of it are, and the answer for one house comes from its own lot. The City of Manvel's flood damage prevention rules name the zones they cover: zones A, AO and AE as indicated on the National Flood Insurance Program map for the city. A lot inside one of those zones is held to the building rules on this page, and a lot outside them is not.
Risk also reaches past the mapped lines. First Street's flood model, published on Redfin's Manvel page, rates the city's flood risk as moderate and counts 2,817 properties, 53% of all properties in Manvel, as likely to be severely affected by flooding over the next 30 years. That figure is a model's estimate for the whole city. It does not say which houses, and it is a different thing from the regulatory zone on a FEMA map.
What does the two-foot rule require of a Manvel home?
Inside the city, new construction and substantial improvement of a home in a flood hazard zone must have the lowest floor, basement included, at least two feet above the base flood elevation, and a registered professional engineer, architect or land surveyor certifies that height to the city's floodplain administrator (section 32-53 of the Manvel Code of Ordinances). The city applies these rules to all areas within its jurisdiction.
Outside the city limits the county sets the rule. Brazoria County's floodplain office states that in May 2005 Commissioners' Court required the elevation to be set at 2 feet above the FEMA elevation. A house built before its lot was mapped, or before either rule applied to it, can sit lower than a new one on the same street. The elevation certificate for the house, where one exists, records how high its lowest floor sits against the base flood elevation.
What is Akery Lake, and what will it change?
Akery Lake is the city's detention pond. The City of Manvel began looking for a long-term answer in 2020 after Hurricane Harvey left State Highway 6, a designated hurricane evacuation route, impassable for several days, and it acquired 117 acres near Masters Road and Jordan Road. The project is a joint one between the city, Brazoria County Conservation and Reclamation District 3, and Brazoria Drainage Districts 4 and 5, and construction began on June 21, 2022.
Once complete it will provide over 1,000 acre-feet of storage, and its stated purpose is to cut the ponding on State Highway 6 in heavy rain. The city's capital projects page estimated that the first of its two phases would finish by the end of 2025, and its parks page still lists the lake as under construction. Since 2025 a sand mining lease has paid the city $5,000 a month plus $1 per cubic yard removed while the pond is dug. The pond adds storage for the area. It does not move a lot's flood zone or raise any one house.
What should you check on one Manvel lot before an offer?
Three things, all for the one address. First, the effective FEMA flood map for the lot: the zone it sits in and, where the map gives one, the base flood elevation. Second, the elevation certificate or survey showing the height of the lowest floor, which tells you whether the house was built to the two-foot rule. Third, the seller's disclosure and any flood insurance history on the house.
Price the insurance before the option period ends rather than after closing. The city's flood preparedness page notes that homeowners' insurance policies do not cover flooding, and that a policy typically takes up to 30 days to go into effect.
What can this page not tell you?
The flood zone or base flood elevation of any particular address. Those come from the effective FEMA map for that lot, and this page publishes neither for any street. It also cannot say whether the pond's first phase has finished since the city last reported, or how a given street drained in a past storm; the seller's disclosure and the insurance history are where a house's own record sits.
Questions & answers
Manvel questions, answered
Is Manvel in a flood zone?
Parts of Manvel are in mapped flood zones, and the answer for one house depends on its lot. The city's flood rules cover zones A, AO and AE on the National Flood Insurance Program map for Manvel, so a lot inside one of those zones is held to the city's elevation rule and a lot outside them is not.
The regulatory map and the modelled risk are two different things. First Street's flood model, shown on Redfin's Manvel page, counts 2,817 properties, 53% of the city's total, as likely to be severely affected by flooding over the next 30 years, which covers houses outside the mapped zones too. Neither source names a particular house. For one address, read the effective FEMA flood map for the lot and ask for the elevation certificate if the seller has one.
How high does a new home in Manvel have to be built in a flood zone?
Inside the City of Manvel, new construction and substantial improvement of a home in a mapped flood hazard zone must put the lowest floor, basement included, at least two feet above the base flood elevation. A registered engineer, architect or land surveyor certifies the height to the city's floodplain administrator under section 32-53 of the city code.
The rule covers zones A, AO and AE on the National Flood Insurance Program map for the city, and the city applies its flood rules to all areas within its jurisdiction. A house built before its lot was mapped, or before the rule applied to it, can sit lower than a new one next door. The elevation certificate, where one exists, is the document that records the height of the lowest floor against the base flood elevation.
What flood elevation rule applies outside Manvel's city limits?
Outside the city limits, Brazoria County sets the rule. The county's floodplain office states that in May 2005 Commissioners' Court required new construction to be elevated two feet above the FEMA elevation, which matches the two feet the City of Manvel requires inside its own limits. A house with a Manvel mailing address can sit under either rule.
Which rule applied to a house depends on where its lot sat, city or unincorporated county, when it was built, and on when the lot was mapped. Parts of the Manvel area lie outside the city limits: the Pomona utility districts, for example, report that they sit in Manvel's extraterritorial jurisdiction rather than inside the city. For one house, the appraisal district record shows the jurisdictions, and the elevation certificate shows how high it was built.
What is Akery Lake in Manvel?
Akery Lake is the City of Manvel's detention pond on 117 acres near Masters Road and Jordan Road, built with Brazoria County Conservation and Reclamation District 3 and Brazoria Drainage Districts 4 and 5. Construction began on June 21, 2022, and once complete it will store over 1,000 acre-feet of water to cut ponding on State Highway 6.
The city began looking for a long-term answer after Hurricane Harvey left State Highway 6, a designated hurricane evacuation route, impassable for several days. Its capital projects page estimated that the first of two phases would finish by the end of 2025, and its parks page still lists the lake as under construction. A sand mining lease has paid the city $5,000 a month plus $1 per cubic yard while the pond is dug. The pond adds storage for the area and does not change the flood zone of any one lot.
Does homeowners' insurance cover flooding in Manvel?
No. The City of Manvel's flood preparedness page notes that homeowners' insurance policies do not cover flooding, and that a flood policy typically takes up to 30 days to go into effect. A buyer who wants flood cover from the day of closing gets a quote and buys the policy well before the closing date.
Price the cover during the option period, while the contract can still be walked away from, rather than after it. The quote depends on the lot's zone on the effective FEMA map and on the height of the lowest floor, which the elevation certificate records. A lender on a home in a mapped flood hazard zone will also have its own requirement, so ask the lender what it needs before the appraisal is ordered.