HUNTINGTON — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., visited the region Monday after funding was announced for floodwall projects earlier this year.

Capito visited the site of the Lower Mud River flood control project site in Milton and Huntington’s largest pump station along the floodwall in the West End of Huntington.

The Milton floodwall will use $190.7 million of federal money through the 2023 omnibus bill.

Capito visited the Huntington pump station at 28th Street West, the largest pump station in the city and the largest in the world when it was constructed in the 1940s, according to Huntington Water Quality Board Executive Director Brian Bracey. The station sits between Fourpole Creek and the Ohio River along the floodwall.

Capito secured a provision in the Water Resources Development Act of 2022 that supports a feasibility study on the rehabilitation of Huntington’s floodwall.

Bracey escorted Capito around the facility and explained the need for new infrastructure to ensure the city’s readiness for the next flood.

Capito is the ranking member on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and serves alongside Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

“The facility is like an old car; you don’t know the day it isn’t going to start,” Bracey said.

Bracey said the facility was using technology from the 1930s and that most other systems comparable to Huntington are using newer technology — and that the gap between a few decades makes a substantial difference in reliability.

When Capito asked what Bracey would do if he had a magic wand, he said he would completely rebuild the pump station.

In the 2022 Water Resources Development Act, crafted by the EPW Committee and signed into law in December 2022, Capito included a provision that adjusted the cost share for the Lower Mud River flood control project from 65% federal and 35% non-federal to 90% federal and 10% non-federal.

Bracey asked that a similar deal be made for flood prevention projects in Huntington, as he said the Water Quality Board would be unable to reach the self-funding required to complete a significant project.