Appalachia gets a particular kind of flood. Steep hollows funnel the water, old infrastructure cannot carry it, and mine-scarred ground sheds it straight into town. A coalition of groups from across the region has spent the past year writing down what that reality demands from Washington, and now they are asking organizations across Appalachia to put their names behind it. Sign-ons are open through Friday, November 13.
The Appalachian Flood Resilience Coalition, coordinated through ReImagine Appalachia, has opened sign-ons for its 2027 Flood Resilience in Appalachia Policy Platform. More than a dozen groups worked on it over the past year, and it lays out the distinct flood challenges this region faces along with concrete steps Congress and the federal government can take to help. Organizations can add their name, and their logo, to the two-page version of the platform by filling out the sign-on form by Friday, November 13 at 5 p.m. Eastern. Groups that miss the deadline but still want in can reach out to the coalition directly.
What the platform is
This is a federal policy platform built specifically around how flooding actually behaves in Appalachia, rather than a one-size-fits-all national wish list. The coalition, which came together a year ago with groups from across the region, has advanced a flood policy platform before; this is the updated 2027 version, shaped by more than a dozen organizations over the course of the year. It details the challenges that make flooding here its own problem, the aging and undersized infrastructure, the legacy of extraction on the land, the repeated hits to the same communities, and it spells out what Congress and federal agencies can do about them. There is a full version and a two-page summary, and the names and logos of organizations that sign on get added to that two-page version.
How your group can sign on
Signing on is a job for organizations rather than individuals, and it is quick. Review the platform, both the full version and the two-page summary are available in the coalition’s shared document, and then fill out the short sign-on form to add your organization’s name and logo. The button below goes straight to that form. If your group wants to sign on but cannot make the November 13 deadline, email Dana at ReImagine Appalachia (Dana@ReImagineAppalachia.org) and they will help you get added.
Why it matters for the rest of us
We have spent this fall watching what floods do to our own towns, from the culverts Washington is still digging out to the flash floods that hit eight counties in September. Appalachia’s flood problems are distinct, chronic, and chronically underfunded, and the region tends to get heard in Washington only when it speaks together. A policy platform is just paper until enough names stand behind it, and a long list of signatories is what turns a good document into something a member of Congress cannot easily ignore. Adding your organization’s name is one of the lowest-effort, highest-leverage things a water or watershed group can do this month. Read it, and if it fits your mission, sign on.
Details from the Appalachian Flood Resilience Coalition, coordinated through ReImagine Appalachia, announcing sign-ons for its 2027 Flood Resilience in Appalachia Policy Platform. The sign-on deadline is Friday, November 13, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern; the contact for late sign-ons is Dana@ReImagineAppalachia.org. Current as of November 3, 2026.
