Western Pa. Emergency Watershed Protection Program conducting rapid survey on flood impact
The USDA is conducting a rapid survey in Western Pennsylvania counties in the Emergency Watershed Protection Program to determine if flooding from recent rain has caused a watershed impairment and has left property owners at risk.
The survey can be filled out online by visiting the website www.tinyurl.com/ybyr3sdb. The survey results will be used to determine if properties could be eligible for the Emergency Watershed Protection program.
Eligible residents must have a permanent residence or business located within 50 feet of a stream, and have experienced severe stream bank damage. Public utilities also are eligible if the stream bank damage is within 10 feet of the utility. Examples include several feet or more of bank loss, exposed foundations, or the total failure of existing stream bank structures.
Typical stream bank restoration projects supported by the program include protecting eroded stream banks, reseeding damaged areas on eligible sites as specified above, and in some cases, home buyouts or purchasing flood plain easements on eligible land.
The Emergency Watershed Protection program helps with the purchase of flood plain easements and the prevention of runoff and soil erosion to safeguard lives and property from floods, drought and erosion on any watershed whenever natural occurrence causes a sudden impairment of the watershed.
Residents can contact the USDA’s Butler Service Center at 724-482-4800 for assistance completing the survey and for additional information about the program.
The survey is open until May 17.
What to know about the Emergency Watershed Protection Program Survey
— Eligible residents must have a permanent residence or business located within 50 feet of a stream.
— Public utilities also are eligible if the stream bank damage is within 10 feet of the utility. Examples include several feet or more of bank loss, exposed foundations, or the total failure of existing stream bank structures.
— Detached garages and sheds that are not utilized as a permanent residence are not eligible.
— Damage to homes and businesses caused by high flood water is not eligible for assistance.
— Repairing, rebuilding or maintaining public or private transportation facilities is not eligible.
— Maintenance and repair of existing structures along a waterway are not eligible for funding.
— Property owners who have been impacted by the storm event noted and feel the resulting damages would meet the eligibility requirements listed above, should complete an EWP Rapid Damage Response Survey on the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture website.
— Surveys will be taken until May 17.
