Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Disaster Recovery topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Grant County seeks NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection funding for post-fire flooding; requests state match
Summary
County staff asked commissioners to authorize submitting a roughly $7.2 million NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) application for post-fire flood damage and to request state match funds so the county would not be responsible for the 25% local share if the match is awarded.
Grant County officials on Jan. 6 presented a plan to apply for federal Emergency Watershed Protection funding to repair sites damaged by post-fire flooding and asked the commission to pursue available state match funds so the county would not have to pay the 25% sponsor share.
The county manager told commissioners the total project cost is "a little over $7,200,000," with about 75% expected from the federal EWP program and roughly $1.7 million representing the 25% match. "We are required to come up with this 25% match," the county manager said, and staff recommended applying to the state's match fund so the county would not need to provide local dollars unless the state match is not awarded.
The proposed EWP projects include work at Bear Canyon Reservoir, Alley Canyon, Soldier Canyon and Sapio Creek, plus a privately owned area off Sapio Creek. The manager said NRCS engineers would design projects if the application is accepted and noted that technical-assistance funding through EWP (for environmental and design work) is typically provided at 100% and requires no local match.
Commissioners asked about the level of project detail and environmental constraints; staff said the current descriptions are high-level and that NRCS would perform required environmental surveys and engineering design as part of the program. The manager also said Game and Fish has committed support on Bear Canyon following conversations assisted by the lieutenant governor and local legislators.
No formal vote on submission is recorded in the work session transcript; staff stated they were seeking approval to submit the application and to pursue the state match application. Further action or formal approval is expected on the commission's Thursday agenda, where the manager said the items will be placed for consideration.
If funded and awarded, the projects would be administered under NRCS rules and would require environmental compliance work tied to threatened and endangered species in the Gila watershed, staff said.
