August 29, 2023 |
Photo – Boozer Creek on the North Platte River – Bigfoot99 file photo
Wyoming will receive a small share of nearly $65 million in flood mitigation assistance that FEMA will also split with North and South Dakota. A project in the Platte Valley south of Saratoga is among the successful applicants in Wyoming.
The funding is part of nearly $3 billion in spending the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Monday, in its words, “to drive resilience to climate change and extreme weather events.”
As part of the spending package announced yesterday, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Utah will split $77,290,396 for mitigation projects, including the construction of water pipelines. Wyoming was not included in the funding for water projects.
North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming will split a smaller pot of Flood Mitigation Assistance totalling $64,948,129.
A project in Carbon County is among the four successful applicants from Wyoming to be awarded funding. The North Platte River Boozer Creek Restoration project is slated to receive $885,959.25
According to the table for each project that FEMA takes under consideration, the status of the Boozer Creek project has been identified for further review. According to FEMA, the status of “further review” means that the project application contains “sufficient information for a preliminary determination of cost-effectiveness and feasibility.”
The FEMA web site adds that “Identification for further review is not a notification of award.” More work may be needed to confirm the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of the plan, according to language on the government’s website.
Still the status is good news for the local conservation district and others that put in the work to apply for the grant.
Examples of successful applicants include flood risk reduction measures that allow properties to be removed from the 100-year regulatory floodplain, community upgrades to a levee system, property that will be transformed into restored green space, and a stream restoration project.
Boozer Creek has been a trouble-spot for flooding on the North Platte River over the last decade or more.
