More than a dozen Connecticut cities and towns are getting a boost in funding for projects that will fight climate change.
State leaders say the projects will work to protect communities disproportionately burdened by extreme weather and rising sea level.
Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury and Norwalk all received grants. They will use the money for stormwater drainage, tree canopy and flood management.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has awarded more than $8 million to 21 projects. The money comes from their Climate Resilience Fund.
This is the first round of grants.
Commissioner Katie Dykes said the money won’t fund construction, but rather the planning phase of the projects.
“This $8.8 million is seed money investing in the day-to-day work that has to be done to write the grant applications to send them on, so that we can attract that money to the state,” Dykes said.
The hope is to attract federal funds to support construction.
The grants were announced at Edgewood Park in the Westville neighborhood of New Haven on Wednesday, one of the areas that will benefit from the funding.
Westville is a FEMA flood zone due to sewer back-ups. DEEP will use $500,000 to help fund the planning phase of the remediation project.
Mayor Justin Elicker said the city is hoping to find a nature-based solution.
“When we see significant storm events, there is a lot of rainwater and flooding that will actually push into the sewers and push that water onto the street and into some of the surrounding buildings, which is unhealthy. It's not a good thing for anyone,” Elicker said.
A full list of projects and grant recipients can be viewed here.
