Milton to receive $190.7 million for floodwall

HUNTINGTON — The Milton floodwall project will receive $190.7 million from the fiscal year 2023 omnibus bill, West Virginia’s senators announced Monday evening.

“Milton has an extensive history of severe flooding that puts lives and livelihoods at risk in the community. Just last year, flooding took a man’s life in Milton,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said in a statement announcing the amount of the appropriation.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is a ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees and works with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.

“With recent flooding in the area, we were reminded of why the Lower Mud River flood control project is needed, and it’s exactly why I’ve prioritized funding for it for the past several years,” Capito said in a news release Monday. “Today’s funding announcement marks another important step in getting this critical project completed.”

Manchin, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the funding will ensure the community has the resources needed to thrive.

“The Lower Mud River Flood Risk Management Project will bolster flood protection by constructing a new levee and river channel, which will also move much of the town out of the flood plain, helping spur economic development and changing this flood plain from a 27-year flood plain to a 250-year one,” he said in the release.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the floodwall project will consist of an earthen levee of about 1.5 miles along the Lower Mud River, providing flood risk reduction and management to the residences and businesses of Milton. The levee will be an average height of 19 feet, with the highest reach being 26 feet. The project begins in east Milton and extends about 2,000 feet before reaching the Mud River, then extends to the Bill Blenko Drive bridge, where it continues for about 2,000 feet to Newmans Branch and then river to high ground near the embankment of Abbot Street, about 500 feet south of U.S. 60. The project also includes two pump stations and a 33-foot-wide gate closure for use during high flood events.

The levee would provide protection to more than 600 structures including residences and businesses, along with public structures, personal property and infrastructure.