Gov. Jim Justice has signed off on legislation aimed at strengthening flood resiliency in deluge-prone West Virginia.
Senate Bill 677 was signed into law by Justice Wednesday, according to the West Virginia Legislature website, after passing through both chambers of the state Legislature without opposition.
SB 677 creates a trust fund to prioritize nature-based flood protection and prevention solutions for low-income areas with a potential — but not required — $40 million allocation.
The bill allows the State Resiliency Office to employ additional staff as needed to carry out the duties of the office established in 2017 and responsible for protecting communities against extreme weather and other disasters.
Under SB 677, the state resiliency officer will administer the already existing Disaster Recovery Trust Fund, which would be removed from the jurisdiction of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. The fund could be granted an initial one-time $10 million allocation, with the State Resiliency Office Board able to seek $10 million replenishment annually.
Mathew Sanders, a senior manager with Pew Charitable Trusts focusing on community flood preparation, hailed SB 677 becoming law and urged giving its provisions financial backing in a statement Wednesday.
“West Virginians should be proud of this important progress,” Sanders said. “Now we must make sure that the Legislature and the governor fully capitalize the two trust funds.”
Pew Charitable Trusts, a global nongovernmental public policy organization, worked on the legislation with the State Resiliency Office and lawmakers.
The House Finance Committee stripped the bill of a provision that would require the trust fund it would create return properties it acquires to open space and that all future development on acquired parcels not related to floodplain restoration and enhancement is prohibited in perpetuity.
Ann Ali, House of Delegates deputy chief of staff and communications director, has said she was told the committee decided that issue was too important to rush in the final days of the 60-day legislative session that wrapped up March 11. The provision was pulled to thoroughly discuss at a later date, Ali said.
The bill allows the State Resiliency Office to employ additional staff as needed to carry out the duties of the office established in 2017 and responsible for protecting communities against extreme weather and other disasters.
West Virginia University forest hydrology associate professor Nicolas Zegre told a legislative committee last fall that West Virginia suffered 1,683 floods from January 2007 to March 2022, including 968 since the June 2016 flood that killed 23 people and destroyed more than 5,000 homes. Zegre cited National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.
A study released in October 2021 by the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit research group that quantifies climate risk, found more than half of West Virginia’s critical infrastructure — including fire, police and power stations — is at risk of becoming inoperable because of flooding. That was a higher share than any other state.
West Virginia’s flood problem is projected to get worse as climate change progresses, causing more frequent extreme weather events.
Zegre cited a projection from the First Street Foundation that nearly the entire state will have double-digit increases in the percentage of properties at risk of flooding by 2050, compared to 2020, including escalations of more than 40% in Doddridge, Kanawha, Mingo, Taylor and Wetzel counties.
