This week Coconino County officials finalized more than $100 million in funding for post-wildfire flood mitigation. It follows last summer’s 26,500-acre Pipeline Fire that resulted in destructive floods in and near Flagstaff.
Flood officials this week approved $42 million from the U.S. Forest Service for projects on and near the San Francisco Peaks. The work is slated to begin this spring and officials say alluvial fan restoration and other projects will help reduce some of most damaging flooding that impacted thousands of homes.
"This funding is hugely impactful to the district being able to move forward and start the really critical projects that are needed both on and off-forest. We’re working feverishly to get those projects into construction," says Coconino County Deputy Manager Lucinda Andreani who is also the administrator of the Flood Control District.
She says the full scope of the work could take two to three years to complete.
In addition, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management this week announced $10.9 million in matching funds for neighborhood flood mitigation, allowing the country to tap $50 million from the National Resources Conservation Service. The forestry department also allocated an additional $16 million to the City of Flagstaff to repair the Inner Basin water pipeline, which was severely damaged by flooding last summer.
In all, there were 45 major flood events that resulted from the Pipeline Fire between June and August 2022. They impacted homes in several neighborhoods northeast of Flagstaff as well as residents in west Flagstaff.
Much of the flood mitigation funding for Coconino County was included in the omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in December.
