WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich today announced that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has agreed to the senators’ request to provide $6.5 million in infrastructure funding to complete a flood management project in the City of Alamogordo, N.M. Udall and Heinrich successfully pushed for the Corps to dedicate this funding, which will go toward completing a construction project designed to prepare and protect the city of Alamogordo from flooding, improve safety, and prevent expensive damage to residences, businesses, and public property during severe storms. In the last three years, Alamogordo has flooded two times, making it an important priority for this disaster funding.
“This important funding will help the city of Alamogordo prepare for future flooding events, make residents and businesses safer, and increase the overall resiliency of the community against flooding. Alamogordo has faced its share of damaging floods, so I’m glad to have worked to secure funding to help put the city on more secure ground for the future,” Udall said. “As a senior member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for the Army Corps of Engineers, I will continue to work to ensure that the Corps funds New Mexico water projects like this to help communities prepare for and minimize the damage from floods.”
“I’m pleased that Alamogordo will receive this critical funding to protect homes and businesses after the floods in recent years,” said Heinrich. “In New Mexico, we know all too well the damage and loss that can result from floods. As climate change drives more extreme weather, including bigger fires and more intense storms, we will need to do even more to prepare for these types of natural disasters. I’m committed to securing federal funding to improve the resiliency of communities across our state.”
Udall and Heinrich worked to authorized the funding as part of the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which provided $17.39 billion in supplemental disaster appropriations to help communities prepare for and recover from recent natural disasters across the country, including those impacted by the 2017 hurricane season. Specifically Congress set aside $4.635 billion for preparing for future disasters. Udall and Heinrich successfully pushed the Corps of Engineers to include New Mexico projects in the agency’s spending plan.
