WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced today that the City of Paducah has been awarded a $400,000 competitive federal grant from the Delta Regional Authority (DRA). Senator McConnell, who contacted the DRA on behalf of the community, said the grant will be used to help the city rehabilitate a pump station for the Paducah floodwall. Senator McConnell informed the DRA that the floodwall runs through downtown Paducah to protect and minimize the flood risk for 11,000 acres and more than 25,000 of his constituents in the area.

“This is great news for the City of Paducah and I was happy to assist Mayor Kaler and local officials on this important project,” Senator McConnell said. “This critical funding will enable the city to update its current pump station that is experiencing pumping capacity loss, which if failed, could potentially lead to devastating flooding in the community.”

Paducah Mayor Gayle Kaler said, “We would like to thank Senator McConnell for writing a letter to the Delta Regional Authority on behalf of Paducah and McCracken County residents. The protection provided by our floodwall and the pump stations are a top infrastructure priority for The City of Paducah. This DRA grant will be a great help in achieving that goal.”

The DRA grant for the pump station rehabilitation is a part of a much larger effort by Paducah officials who have worked for years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to update and repair the city’s aging floodwall infrastructure to better protect citizens and businesses. In order to complete the comprehensive repair project, Congress must raise the project’s federal authorization cap. Senator McConnell secured in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2016—which passed the Senate in September—an increase in the project’s authorization level to an amount over $31 million. Once enacted, this authorization increase will allow the city and the USACE to complete the priority flood protection project with future appropriations.