Branford and Old Lyme are the latest towns receiving support for resilience planning through a Long Island Sound-wide collaboration, joining 14 other awardees in Connecticut and New York announced in November.
With the two awards for Branford and Old Lyme, more than $1 million is being provided for seven Connecticut and nine New York projects in the second round of the Long Island Sound Resilience Planning Support program, a joint effort of the Long Island Sound Partnership, Connecticut Sea Grant and New York Sea Grant, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“With this support we will be able to begin a comprehensive assessment of the serious threats that our town faces from hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters and formulate and prioritize strategies for protecting our most vulnerable citizens, our essential infrastructure and our environment,” said Jim Lampos, Old Lyme selectman.
Old Lyme will develop a townwide Strategic Resiliency Action Plan with SLR Consultants. This will build on a 2021 Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan with new findings that assess risks from sea level rise, saltwater intrusion, coastal and riverine flooding, drought, wildfires and impacts to roads, public utilities and neighborhoods. The new plan will prioritize actions related to land use that can help reduce impacts.
Branford will work with Tighe & Bond to develop feasibility and design alternatives to reduce significant flood risks at the town’s water pollution control facility, which treats 3.5 million gallons of sewage per day. Located on the Branford River, which flows directly into Long Island Sound, the plant is vulnerable to coastal flooding and future sea level rise. The plan will evaluate floodproofing options, nature-based and hybrid strategies, cost considerations and other factors, and lead to a preliminary project design.
“We are grateful to Connecticut Sea Grant for our recent grant award to assist with the development of conceptual plans for protecting the Wastewater Pollution Control Facility,” said Branford First Selectman Joshua Brooks. “The findings of the study will help to form the basis of an appropriate engineering project that will improve the resilience of the existing WPCF to sea level rise, storm surge and intense storm flooding. This grant award will help our community continue to take critical steps toward achieving resilience and sustainability goals to protect our community and Long Island Sound.”
Connecticut Sea Grant Director Sylvain De Guise said the two awards further demonstrate the need for funding to help communities assess and plan resilience projects.
“I am glad that through our partnership with EPA, we can support projects that are actionable and help communities achieve their own priority goals to increase community resilience,” De Guise said. “Such funds are not broadly available, but address immediate needs.”
The list of all 16 awards can be found by clicking here.
More information: Judy Benson, communications coordinator, Connecticut Sea Grant: judy.benson@uconn.edu.