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The Nowata County Commissioners discussed several flood related matters during Monday morning’s meeting. With flooding no longer an immediate threat, the process of funding recovery now comes to the forefront.

The commissioners first looked at a notice of intent for grant funding to cover costs of setting up a hazard mitigation plan. Emergency Management Director Laurie Summers says that she needs funding from the state to set up the plan. The county must ask for a certain amount of money and then wait to see how much the state will deem necessary. This item isn’t directly related to the most recent flood, but will be helpful in future hazard situations.

The board also initiated a $100,000 transfer of funds from the CBRI account in order to start working on roads that were damaged by floodwaters. This is money the county hopes will be reimbursed by FEMA once a federal disaster declaration is made. District one commissioner Burke LaRue says that this funding will not cover all the damage in the area.

The commissioners also heard from Julie Lamb with the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. Lamb discussed the idea of including Nowata County in the Emergency Watershed Program. That program would provide funding for infrastructure projects like fixing roads and bridges. The county would only be responsible for 25% of the costs.

The county will continue looking into flood damage around the area.