Charles River Watershed Awarded $223K For Climate Resilience

NEWTON, MA — The Baker-Polito Administration has awarded $233,000 to the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) and 19 Charles River watershed communities for “Building Resilience Across the Charles River Watershed Phase II,” a collaborative climate resiliency project that will improve the watershed’s ability to prepare for severe flooding from climate change.

The funding, which was awarded through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant program, supports communities that are part of the Charles River Climate Compact (CRCC), a group of municipalities working towards regional climate resilience.

“This additional funding will allow us to help cities and towns take bold action to reduce the dangerous flooding already happening, and prepare for the even more intense rainstorms of the future,” said Newton City Councilor Emily Norton, who serves as Executive Director at CRWA, in a statement. “The Charles River Flood Model clearly demonstrates the impacts coming to our region, but it allows us to test out the benefits of potential flood mitigation strategies so we know we are making sound investments.”

In its latest project, the CRWA will develop a regional Adaptation Implementation Plan for freshwater flooding, which will involve designing up to four site-specific flood mitigation projects within the Charles River watershed. In addition, the plan will provide the tools each municipality needs to find solutions for flood mitigation.

In addition to funding the efforts of the CRWA, the state also provided funding to individual communities within the Charles River watershed, including Ashland, Belmont, Foxborough, Mendon, Millis, Natick, Waltham, Watertown, and Wrentham.