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As West Virginia faces increased risk of flooding, Gov. Jim Justice is asking the Legislature to allocate $50 million to a special trust to help implement the state’s flood resilience plan, expected to be completed later this year. I am requesting it.
Last year, lawmakers created the West Virginia Flood Resilience Trust Fund to fund the state Resilience Authority, which was created in the wake of the deadly 2016 floods. The fund will strengthen flood prevention and protection, prioritizing low-income communities. But lawmakers did not put money into the fund.
The bill creating the trust would also transfer the Disaster Recovery Trust Fund, established in 1990 to provide relief after natural disasters, under the authority of the state Office of Resilience. But that fund is also empty.
“There is no money in the Resilience Fund or in the Disaster Recovery Trust Fund,” the firm’s director, Robert Martin, told lawmakers last month.
The State Resilience Office is responsible for coordinating and planning disaster and resilience efforts with a particular focus on flooding. The department must develop a new state flood plan by June 30, 2024.
The plan is an update to the state’s 2004 Flood Protection Plan, which made several actionable recommendations, including suggestions for improvements to floodplain and wastewater management, building codes and flood warning systems. It has never been carried out by a state agency.
West Virginia’s mountainous terrain and thousands of rivers and streams make it especially vulnerable to flooding, which is likely to worsen as climate change continues to increase risks.
Martin told lawmakers last month that a major barrier to tackling any project is a lack of funding, adding that the department is working on applying for federal grants and funding opportunities.
“If there’s something you want to do with federal or state funding, there’s probably a project that can still be done,” Martin said.
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