Melissa Roberts, executive director of the American Flood Coalition, addressed the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding on Sunday to begin the Legislature’s December interim meetings.
She told member that there is more federal funding available for flood mitigation than ever before, with matching money in the billions of dollars.
“Often $1 of state investment put up can bring down anywhere from $5 to $7 to $9 of federal investment,” Roberts said. “We’re also seeing that some states that have had a head start like Texas, and Florida and Louisiana, are really getting an outsized share. But this opportunity still exists.”
West Virginia State Resiliency Officer Bob Martin informed members that he has several projects planned to seize the grant opportunity, but that his office is challenged with organizational bureaucracy hurdles to apply for grants and federal funds.
“Currently, we can’t, partly because most of the federal dollars right now are going to other agencies,” Martin said. “There are grants out there for economic development and some of them have to do with resiliency and have to do with flood mitigation, have to do with storm water, and those are integrated into those programs.”
Martin believes it is the office’s duty to get that federal money for state projects and put the money to work. He said he’s working with several agencies, with grant writers and legal teams, to obtain grants and federal funds.
Flood Committee members voted to help find solutions to the challenge and recommended grant assistant programs at Marshall University and West Virginia University that are available to help the Flood Resiliency Office.
Martin said that he believes by the end of 2024, if not sooner, his office will have the expertise and resources to go from an organizational phase to executing flood mitigation projects.
