30 Va. projects awarded $24.5M in flood prep grants

The Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund has awarded $24.5 million in grants for 30 projects statewide, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday.

“The Community Flood Preparedness Fund will provide an estimated $75 million a year to improve the resilience of our commonwealth, including targeted funding for Virginia’s most vulnerable and underserved communities,” Northam said in a statement. “This funding is only possible because of our participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.”

Thirty applications from 22 local government organizations will receive grants to build capacity, plan and begin projects to address the effects of recurrent flooding, sea level rise and extreme weather.

• Waterfront improvement project design, city of Alexandria, $3.24 million
• Arlandria flood mitigation — Edison Street and Dale Street Capacity Project Phase I, city of Alexandria, $516,500
• Staff training and certification (CFM), town of Ashland, $2,579
• Resilience plan, town of Ashland, $60,051
• Resilience planning and staff training, city of Charlottesville, $94,276
• Resilience plan, town of Christiansburg, $44,520
• Resilience plan development and training, town of Colonial Beach, $103,500
• Big Bethel Blueway and Albany Drive at Big Bethel Road, city of Hampton, $3 million
• Sunset Creek Urban Channel naturalization project, city of Hampton, $2.02 million
• Billy Woods Canal, city of Hampton, $291,850
• Lake Hampton and North Armistead Avenue, city of Hampton, $3.84 million
• Pilot project development, dashboard and education and outreach, Henrico County, $361,500
• Resilience plan development and training, Isle of Wight County, $68,026
• Capacity building and planning, LENOWISCO PDC, $150,000
• MPPDC capacity building, Middle Peninsula PDC, $35,250
• Dredging project, Middlesex County, $336,000
• Master plan development — stormwater, floodplain, resilience and climate change management, city of Newport News, $4.92 million
• Watershed master plan study and purchase of flood sensors, city of Norfolk, $315,000
• Hazard mitigation plan update, Northern Neck PDC, $45,000
• Data collection of regional significance, creation of tools and applications, dashboard for real-time flooding risk data, Northern Virginia Regional Commission, $11,250
• Resilience plan development and staff, city of Petersburg, $385,016
• Comprehensive citywide drainage study and FP ordinance update, city of Petersburg, $2.23 million
• Resilience plan development — Windsor Farms, city of Richmond, $19,394
• Resilience plan development, Roanoke, $135,000
• Town of Scottsville study, Scottsville, $123,346
• Capacity building for flood resilience in Southern Virginia, Southside Planning District Commission, $135,000
• Hoskins Creek and Rappahannock River, town of Tappahannock, $69,920
• Stormwater Project — South Birdneck Road between Hughes Avenue and Sea Street, city of Virginia Beach, $1.92 million
• West Point study, town of West Point, $22,800

The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, in cooperation with the Virginia Resources Authority, administers the fund and grant program. DCR oversees the state’s floodplain management program.

Grants are financed by the sale of carbon emission allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. RGGI is a collaborative effort among mid-Atlantic and Northeast states to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. Since earlier this year, the Community Flood Preparedness Fund has provided more than $32.3 million in funding to local communities, according to a news release.

Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin said earlier in the month that he would use executive power to remove Virginia from RGGI, calling it a carbon tax on electricity consumers in Virginia that will cost ratepayers an estimated $1 billion to $1.2 billion over the next four years. Youngkin takes office Jan. 15, 2022.