Plans for sustained state funding that could help advance flood-control projects for historic Ellicott City will be proposed by a freshman delegate from Howard County.

Del.-elect Courtney Watson, a Democrat whose District 9B includes the historic town, said she wants to reboot the Comprehensive Flood Management Grant Program to provide long-term state funding to mitigate flooding in Ellicott City. Watson is drafting a bill that might draw program funds from the state’s capital budget.

“Ellicott City is like the canary in the coal mine,” Watson said. “We need a long-term commitment from the state to help us with this problem.”

The Comprehensive Flood Management Grant Program was created in 1976. Between 2000 and 2003, it received nearly $2 million in funding, according to Erik Shirk, director of communications for the state’s Department of Budget and Management.

Funding stopped after 2003.

Watson is proposing that grants could be used to acquire flood-prone properties and help finance flood-control projects and alarm systems.