Virginia offers $1 million in grants for floodplain and dam safety projects

RICHMOND, Va. (WFXR) — Dam owners and local governments may now apply for $1 million in matching grants from the Virginia Dam Safety, Flood Prevention and Protection Assistance Fund.

The fund is managed by the Virginia Resources Authority on behalf of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

All grants are reimbursements and require a 50 percent match. The maximum amount per grant will be determined based on amounts requested for eligible projects, application scores, and available funds.

“Dam safety and floodplain management are critical to public safety, as we saw during several weather events this year,” DCR Director Clyde Cristman said. “These grants will help recipients take necessary steps to protect lives and property while making communities more resilient to flooding. We encourage dam owners and localities across Virginia to apply.”
Clyde Cristman, director of Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation

Grants are offered in two categories:

Dam safety grants are available to private dam owners and local governments for dams that have been under a regular or conditional certificate during the past 12 months. If the applicant’s dam is not under a certificate, detailed documentation must be provided to demonstrate the steps being taken to bring the dam under certificate. Grants may be used for dam break inundation zone analysis, mapping and digitization; probable maximum precipitation impact analysis and certification; hazard classification analysis; emergency action plan development; design, repair and replacement of low-level draining devices; and engineering studies to evaluate static, hydrologic and seismic failure modes as specified in the grant manual.

Flood prevention and protection grants are available to local governments and can be used for hydrologic and hydraulic studies of floodplains to improve the accuracy of flood maps and better determine flood risk; development of flood hazard mitigation strategies and plans; development of flood prevention and protection studies; and other projects as specified in the grant manual.

Requests for these grants must be submitted by 4:00 p.m., Feb. 26, 2021.