By Steven Allen Adams for The Intelligencer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia might be in a drought, but flood mitigation and resiliency against future natural threats remain on the mind of state planners while working on next-to-no funding.
Bob Martin, director of the State Resiliency Office, gave a quarterly report to members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding Sunday afternoon on the first day of three-day November interim meetings at the State Capitol Building.
The State Resiliency Office (SRO) presented a flood resiliency plan to members of the SRO Board during its quarterly meeting in June ahead of a June 30 deadline required by the passage of Senate Bill 677 during the 2023 legislative session.
The state’s earlier flood protection plan, first begun under Gov. Cecil Underwood in 1998 and completed under Gov. Bob Wise in 2004, was never implemented.
The SRO conducted a review of the 2004 plan in 2022, but SB 677 — which made several reforms to the State Resiliency Office — required a new flood protection plan.
