Virginia working to address flooding throughout state with grant awards

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation today announced $13.6 million in awards from the Virginia community flood preparedness fund.

Twenty-seven applications for flood prevention and protection projects including mitigation, capacity building, planning and studies were funded in communities across the Commonwealth.

Grant round three was initially advertised for $40 million.

DCR received 64 applications with grant requests totaling nearly $93 million.

DCR therefore also announced that 32 proposals totaling $68 million in requests would be given a 60-day supplemental review period, allowing applicants to correct application deficiencies and submit additional information.

Finally, in order to support as many beneficial projects as possible, DCR announced that it has been authorized to release an additional $30 million in funding for grant round three.

“The impacts of flooding are felt across the Commonwealth, and Governor Youngkin has ensured that resiliency and flood mitigation efforts are a priority for this administration,” said Travis Voyles, Virginia’s acting secretary of natural and historic resources and chief resilience officer. “These projects will support important flood protection and resilience efforts in inland and coastal communities across Virginia.”

DCR, in cooperation with the Virginia Resources Authority, administers the fund and grant program. It oversees the commonwealth’s floodplain management program and is responsible for the development of the coastal resilience master plan and the Virginia flood protection master plan.

“We are pleased to award this initial group of grants and look forward to working with applicants who require additional review,” said DCR director Matthew Wells. “Given the importance of addressing flooding and resilience challenges, and the level of interest in this grant round, we are extending this opportunity broadly to applicants with potentially viable projects. This supplemental review period and the release of additional funds will allow us to support critical projects now, rather than waiting for a future grant round.”

DCR has made all grant round three applications available on its website. The list of approved projects, along with scoring sheets, will be posted later this week.

The agency plans to release grant round four in early 2023, along with the initial round of the newly created Resilient Virginia revolving fund.

Information is available at https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/dam-safety-and-floodplains/dsfpm-cfpf.