MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and Gov. Tony Evers announced the allocation of $2 million in flood grants Monday for 11 Wisconsin communities.

What You Need To Know

  • Wisconsin allocated $2 million in Pre-Disaster Flood Resilience Grants for 11 programs throughout the state

  • The program is focused on both the assessment and mitigation of flood risks

  • To qualify, communities needed to have a declared state of emergency in the last 10 years or a WEM-approved mitigation plan targeting a localized flood risk

The Pre-Disaster Flood Resilience Grants (PDFRG) program aims to help communities in two ways: first, to assess flood risks, and then, to mitigate these risks through wetlands, culverts, floodplains or stream restoration to prevent floods from occurring. The program was signed into law in April 2024, and is overseen by Wisconsin Emergency Management (WEM), a division of the DMA.

“Taking action now, before flooding strikes, will help reduce the impacts of future flooding events,” WEM Administrator Greg Engle said. “By helping Wisconsin communities become more flood resilient, we will save on response and recovery costs later.”

To qualify for the grant, a community needed to have a presidential or governor-declared state of emergency because of flooding in the last 10 years, or have a WEM-approved mitigation plan targeting a localized flood risk. Evers most recently declared states of emergency in April 2023 and July 2024 due to flooding in several counties.

WEM received 23 applications totaling an estimated $3.8 million. Of these, WEM approved 11 using the $2 million allocated by the 2023-25 state budget. 

The state’s flood awareness week was last month. Flooding can be common as snow melts in the spring.

The full list of PDFRG projects can be viewed here.

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