Money for West Virginia’s flood mitigation efforts hangs in the balance as lawmakers hammer out state budget

Over the past two decades, West Virginia has been ravaged by floods, adding up to more than $200 million in damage. The problem is only likely to get worse due to climate change, but the state has yet to allocate even a fraction of the money needed to help mitigate future damage.

That could change this year: as lawmakers hit the last days of the 60-day session, they’re still considering Gov. Jim Justice’s $50 million funding request for a special trust to implement the state’s flood resiliency plan expected to be completed later this year. The House’s proposed budget includes the request, funding it through surplus funds. But the Senate version does not.

The discovery of a potential budget hole further complicates the matter, fueling the uncertainty of whether the final budget will include money for the State Resiliency Office — the office tasked with coordinating and planning disaster and resiliency efforts with a specific focus on flooding.

Given the circumstances, it’s “unlikely that a significant portion of that $50 million is going to survive the current budget,” said Sen. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer.

It’s possible that funding for flood mitigation gets pushed to the side for now, according to Swope, who is the co-chair of the interim committee on flooding and sits on the Senate Finance Committee.

“Our leadership is very optimistic that all of our budgeting is going to be just fine,” he said. “But there’s some bear traps out there that we have to pull back. So, the flooding money is more than likely going to fall into ‘maybe later’ instead of ‘now.’”

But this comes after decades of kicking the can down the road.

The State Resiliency Office is responsible for updating the state’s 2004 flood protection plan, which was never implemented by state agencies despite West Virginia’s vulnerability to flooding. The 20-year-old plan featured several actionable recommendations, including suggestions on floodplain and wastewater management as well as improved building codes and flood warning systems.

Last year, lawmakers created the trust to provide funding for the State Resiliency Office, which the state established in the aftermath of the deadly 2016 floods. The fund is dedicated to enhancing flood prevention and protection, prioritizing low-income communities, and meant to provide the money to implement a new flood resiliency plan the office is responsible for developing by June 30. But lawmakers didn’t put any money in the fund, and both it and the Disaster Recovery Trust Fund are empty.

In December, Robert Martin, the director of the resiliency office, told lawmakers the lack of money in both of those funds has meant the office is struggling to secure funding for mitigation projects.

“There’s probably projects right now we’d be able to execute if we had what we were looking to do either with federal or state dollars,” said Martin, adding that while his office sought out federal funding, it proved difficult as those funds tended to be earmarked for other state agencies or required a state-level match.

Flooding is the most expensive natural disaster in the United States, with an average annual $4 billion in damages, according to Resources for the Future , a nonprofit research institution based in Washington, D.C. However, research has shown that every $1 invested in mitigation efforts saves an average of $6 in disaster recovery costs.

Between 2010 and 2021, West Virginia experienced about 1,600 flood events, costing $244 million in damages, according to estimates by Pew Charitable Trusts. However, damage from smaller-scale events is often underreported, so the actual cost may be much higher.

West Virginia’s mountainous terrain and several thousands of rivers and creeks make it especially susceptible to flooding. Additionally, the development of West Virginia’s economy and land-use patterns near and around waterways also contribute to the state’s vulnerability to flooding, according to Mathew Sanders, a disaster planning expert at Pew.

Sanders said the development of a new statewide flood plan and the creation of the trust fund were steps in the right direction.

“I would argue that the state is currently working with fairly limited resources to really gather and develop the best scientific information that it can to develop a better understanding of its current flood risk profile,” said Sanders. “But more importantly, project out into the future how that profile is likely to change.”

That information is crucial to developing a flood model, which is an important tool in flood control and mitigation. A model could inform state regulators where water flows and pools during a rain or flood event, and help the state prepare for future flooding.

“But again, that requires investment, that requires funding, that requires a degree of support that is currently isn’t there,” Sanders said.

Whether any money is funneled to the State Resiliency Office has yet to be determined as lawmakers scramble to agree on a final version of the state budget in the last days of the session.

Swope said while he isn’t hopeful the fund will get the full $50 million allocation, he’s asked leadership to “at least put a small amount of money” towards the State Resiliency Office to help build it up and so it can start developing and evaluating projects.

“There may be a possibility that some of that money will come through the budget,” he added.

Money for West Virginia’s flood mitigation efforts hangs in the balance as lawmakers hammer out state budget appeared first on Mountain State Spotlight , West Virginia's civic newsroom.