Grants aim to ease flooding woes in Monroe County

MONROE COUNTY — Severe flooding is an increasing problem in Monroe and other area counties. The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments recently received two federal grants that aim to ease the problem.

SEMCOG plans to use a $4.2 million "Advancing Environmental Quality of Life in Underserved Communities Grant" from the U.S. Environmental Protect Agency to bolster green infrastructure initiatives across seven counties, including Monroe.

SEMCOG also received $900,000 of $50 million in federal funding awarded to Michigan from the Department of Transportation's "Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient and Cost-Saving Transportation Program (PROTECT)."

Flooding resulting from storms is becoming a more frequent problem for homeowners and farmers in Monroe County, said Katie Grantham, an environmental and infrastructure planner for SEMCOG. She cited an increase in frequency and intensity of storms, but also aging infrastructure, including drains, watermains and sewers. Some of the systems are more than 70 years old.

“When the infrastructure was built, it wasn’t expected to handle this much. The water has to go somewhere,” Grantham said.

Michigan Chief Infrastructure Officer Zachary Kolodin said failing infrastructure is common in states that developed early, like Michigan.

Previous Coverage: Storms cause flooding in Monroe County

“It’s near the end of its useful life. When the systems were built, they were not right-sized for modern-day climate events," he said.

SEMCOG has convened a Water Infrastructure Task Force made up of local government, business and nonprofit organizations.

"We're trying to manage storm water across southeast Michigan. It’s been challenging for residents with basement backups. We’re trying to look holistically at the system and large-scale infrastructure," Grantham said.

The two grants will help with those efforts.

The specific amount earmarked for Monroe County from the first grant is not yet determined.

“We’ve done some previous green infrastructure work in the area. There are lots of opportunities along the shoreline ... there also are a lot of opportunities for wetland restoration," Grantham said.

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Grantham said SEMCOG will work with local government and environmental groups to implement projects. The organization is starting to contact officials now.

Funding from the PROJECT Program, according to SEMCOG, "will be used to bolster the state's infrastructure resilience against natural hazards, such as climate change and flooding."

— Contact reporter Suzanne Nolan Wisler at swisler@monroenews.com .

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Grants aim to ease flooding woes in Monroe County