President Donald Trump has denied Colorado’s requests for disaster declarations to help communities affected by wildfires and flooding – but La Plata County officials say the local impact will be minimal.
October flooding forced evacuations and damaged the Vallecito Creek channel, but most homes saw minimal impacts and were not eligible for FEMA assistance.
“It was a significant storm, but it wasn’t devastating,” said Rob Farino, La Plata County Emergency Management director. “So, fortunately, the county is going to weather it a lot better than had a bridge been totally destroyed.”
The bulk of local recovery efforts, directed at creek channel restoration, will be funded through the Emergency Watershed Protection program – a federal grant administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The EWP program is not tied to FEMA’s disaster declaration process, Farino said.
The EWP program uses federal dollars but operates independently from FEMA, so local officials do not anticipate disruptions to that funding stream.
What could be affected is a state-submitted FEMA Public Assistance application, which reimburses local governments for damage to public infrastructure. La Plata County incurred costs repairing a bridge and two county roads.
Because La Plata County did not meet the federal damage threshold on its own, the state grouped it with Archuleta County – where damage from the same storm was more extensive – in a joint disaster request, he said.
County spokesperson Megan Graham estimated total damages at about $209,000, with most of the costs tied to labor. Had the declaration been approved, the county could have been eligible for as much as 75% reimbursement, she said.
“Having an opportunity to be reimbursed for some of those expenses would have been great for the taxpayers and for the community,” she said.
Gov. Jared Polis’ office received notice Saturday that the disaster declaration requests had been denied. Polis and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper have since criticized the decision.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, who represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, also voiced support for the recovery funds. In a statement Monday, he said he would work with fellow Colorado lawmakers to appeal the decision.
“The Colorado state and federal delegation were united in seeking assistance after these tragedies, and we ask the administration to work with us on an appeal,” Hurd said.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
