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Senate committee advances governor-backed flood-resiliency pilot to install early-warning gauges
Summary
The Senate Government Organization Committee agreed to a committee substitute for Senate Bill 390, a governor-sponsored proposal to direct $10 million into a 36-month pilot to deploy AI-driven flood gauges across seven basins; the substitute removes a hard 50% low-income allocation but retains prioritization for low-income areas and was reported to the full Senate with a recommendation to pass.
The Senate Government Organization Committee on Tuesday voted to adopt a committee substitute for Senate Bill 390 and reported the measure to the full West Virginia Senate with a recommendation that it pass.
Committee counsel said the governor’s proposal would expand the state resiliency officer’s authority to disperse money from the Flood Resiliency Trust Fund, add state agencies and organizations as eligible recipients and direct $10,000,000 to purchase and install an advanced-warning gauge network. Counsel described the project as a 36-month pilot tied to the state’s flood response plan and said it aims to provide up to five hours or more of advance warning in some events.
The substitute removes the statutory requirement that at least 50% of disbursements go to benefit low-income households while retaining a requirement that disbursements prioritize low-income geographic areas. "It just removes the hard cap or, actually, threshold for that," counsel said during the presentation.
Matthew Blackwood, acting director of the West Virginia Emergency Management Division, testified under oath that the pilot is intended as a proof of concept focused on seven basins (comprising nine watersheds) selected for flood risk, recent flooding history, community and infrastructure factors. "The AI modeling...will put in baseline information and then the system will learn," Blackwood said, adding the system would ingest historical weather, soil-moisture and radar data to improve localized warnings and accuracy.
Blackwood told the committee the project will integrate existing gauges where appropriate, supplement or replace aging sensors, and work with higher-education and federal partners such as the U.S. Geological Survey to ensure compatibility. He said the state would engage a contractor to help build the artificial-intelligence components, but that the effort would be driven by state input.
With no amendments proposed, the committee adopted the substitute and the vice chair moved to report SB 390 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it pass.
The bill next moves to the full Senate for consideration under regular procedure.
