ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 19, 2001) – Some property owners in the Dry Run basin of Allegany County will benefit from $25,600 in relief approved by the Board of Public Works today. The money, part of a cost share program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Allegany County, will be used to purchase seven flood-prone homes in the Bowman Addition community that sits in the Dry Run floodplain near Cumberland.

"Safeguarding the lives and property of citizens is one of the most essential duties of government, and one we take very seriously," said Gov. Parris N. Glendening who visited the community in July 1999. "This funding is the basis for a better quality of life for area residents that have been continually plagued by rising waters."

Nearly 25 residents will be moved from the serious threat to life and property from unusually dangerous forces that occur under high flow conditions in the Dry Run basin. A two-year study conducted by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and completed late last year found that the Dry Run watershed falls prey to heavy flooding roughly every 10 years. During times of flooding, the waterway, which empties into Evitts Creek and on to the Potomac River, can rise to the height of a one story building in some places. In the 1970's, the flood action was so swift it swept a man downstream leaving him with lifelong injuries.

Once purchased, the properties will be converted to open space and maintained by the county. Other measures will also be taken to stabilize the streambed to a more natural condition.

In February, $100,000 from the Maryland Department of the Environment's Comprehensive Flood Management Grant Program, funded phase one of the relocation project to remove 18 homes from harm's way. Previous grants in the amount of $247,500 were made to complete the project.

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