With new funding pouring in, Virginia flood program readies for first round of projects

With tens of millions of dollars now pouring in, a new statewide program will soon greenlight flood-control projects that would help communities from coastal Virginia to the rural Shenandoah Valley.

Flooding throughout the state, and particularly Hampton Roads, has gotten worse in recent years. Since 1927, the relative sea level has risen by about 1.5 feet at Sewells Point at Naval Station Norfolk. And research shows that sea level rise, driven by climate change, is set to accelerate in the coming decades.

Local leaders have been critical of the state’s previous hands-off approach to funding some of these flood-control and sea level rise projects, especially as Virginia Beach estimates its price tag in the billions. It’s a gap the new Community Flood Preparedness Fund is meant to partially fill.

“It’s not enough money to solve everybody’s problems everywhere, but we want to be able to target these monies in areas that are going to have the most benefit and are going to benefit people regardless of where they’re located,” said Russell Baxter, the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s deputy director for soil and water conservation, dam safety and floodplain management.

“We want this to be an equitable program. We want all neighborhoods, cities, and areas to benefit from it.”

Roughly $18 million in funding will be available for the first grant round, which started June 4 and closes Sept. 3. The second round will begin Aug. 5 and wrap up 90 days later, though it is unclear exactly how much money will be used for that round.

The fund’s money comes from the auction of carbon allowances through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based program, which Virginia recently joined, that aims to cut power plants’ carbon pollution. There have been two auctions this year, and the fund gets 45% of that money, which ended up being about $20 million both times. There will be two more auctions this year, Baxter said.

The funding is continuous, and Baxter estimated the fund could see some half a billion dollars over the next decade. There are some expenses tied to overhead costs and administering the fund — about $1.5 million for the first round of grants — but the rest will fund flood projects.

There are three categories for the type of grants that will be awarded: projects, studies and capacity building and planning. The last is aimed at improving how a local government is able to identify and minimize risk from flooding.

Baxter said he was concerned that some larger localities, those with more staff, would have a leg up when applying for these grants, which is why they are trying to prioritize the “capacity building and planning” category that will help level the playing field a bit.

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“And we would like to spend money on bringing localities that aren’t in as advantageous of a place up to higher standards in their capacity to apply for grants and to understand the needs for their communities,” he said.

To apply for grant money for flood-control projects, communities need a resilience plan in place, which the department wants to see in order to gauge how a given project fits into the locality’s bigger picture, Baxter said. There is no cap for how much money could be allocated to a specific project, and some could be funded in phases — planning, design and construction.

And at least 25% of the money disbursed from the fund each year shall be used for projects in low-income areas. Nature-based solutions will be given priority, according to the fund’s grant manual.

Most of the grants will have some type of match from local money, though it varies significantly for the type of proposal. Flood prevention and protection studies in areas that are not in low-income areas will require a 50% fund and 50% match. But if a proposal would help build up planning and capacity in a low-income area, then 90% of the money would come from the fund and just 10% from a match.

Baxter said because the program is so new, it’s going to continue to change in the coming years.

“The way it is today is probably different than the way it is tomorrow,” he said.

Peter Coutu, 757-222-5124, peter.coutu@pilotonline.com