Six Communities Receive Flooding and Storm Event Funding

Federal, State Program Aids Local Governments

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced today that six communities were selected to receive Community Resiliency Grants to help local governments prepare for weather-related hazards, including flooding, storm events and sea level rise. The new funding will provide both financial and technical assistance to coastal and non-coastal areas throughout Maryland through the CoastSmart Communities and Green Infrastructure Resiliency programs. 

“The funding will help communities prepare for weather-related challenges as well as reduce their vulnerability to hazards,” Chesapeake and Coastal Service Director Matt Fleming said. “Identifying and addressing potential problems before an event will enhance our collective resiliency and response.”

The following projects have been recommended for funding:

• Coastal Resiliency in Calvert County: The county will develop a Solomons Island Flood Mitigation Plan; maintain required activities for continuing in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Rating System; and propose Zoning Ordinance Amendments that would reduce risk and promote flood protection.
• Coastal Resiliency Study for Cambridge: The city will oversee the completion of a Coastal Resilience Chapter to be integrated and adopted into the comprehensive plan and undergo an evaluation of green and gray replacement approaches of four aging seawalls.
• Flood Resiliency in Snow Hill: Community Rating System and Public Outreach. The town will apply to Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Community Rating System; create a public outreach campaign to educate property owners about flood risk and living in the floodplain; and verify and establish geodetic benchmarks to accurately determine elevation.
• Howard County Green Infrastructure Analysis: The county will oversee the completion of a green infrastructure assessment to evaluate the current stormwater flooding problems in historic Ellicott City and determine green infrastructure practices that could be implemented to reduce future flood risk.
• Moving the Needle, Coastal Adaptation and Implementation Planning in Baltimore City: The city will update and enhance the Disaster Preparedness Project and Plan to incorporate small ‘community district’ risk assessments and develop community-level plans, and implementation guidelines to better focus efforts in local communities most at risk from the impacts of climate change.
• Smith Island Open Ditch Drainage Assessment: Somerset County will oversee the completion of an assessment to map and evaluate the island’s drainage system. The assessment will identify deficiencies in the system, recommend green infrastructure practices that could improve the system and develop an implementation plan for improvements.

The grant program is made possible by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management and Environmental Protection Agency Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant funding.