LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A state commission has approved nearly $9 million in funding to repair levees that were damaged by record flooding last year.

The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission approved the $8.8 million in grant funding Thursday for 14 groups overseeing levees along the Arkansas River that were damaged last year, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

The largest grants were for $1.6 million for the Riverdale area in Little Rock and $1.5 million for a levee district in Dardanelle.

Last year, Gov. Asa Hutchinson created a task force to study how to improve the state’s aging levee system. The group presented its final report earlier this month, and recommended increased oversight, consolidation of some levee districts, and state grants to fund improvements.

Last year’s springtime flooding along the Arkansas River occurred because of heavy rainfall in Kansas and Oklahoma.