(The Center Square) – Rhode Island is receiving a slice of federal funding to harden infrastructure along one of the state’s flood prone rivers against the impacts of climate change.
The National Coastal Resilience Fund awarded $144 million for 96 projects in 29 coastal states and U.S. territories. Rhode Island is receiving two grants totaling $1.25 million to strengthen resiliency, and improve water and habitat quality along the Woonasquatucket River watershed.
Members of the state’s congressional delegation that pushed for the funding praised the Biden administration’s release of the money.
“These strategic federal investments will advance resiliency upgrades to the Providence Riverwalk and enhance conservation efforts along the Woonasquatucket River,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, said in a statement.
Rep. David Cicilline, D-RI, said the funding is a “key investment in the future of the Woonasquatucket River watershed and the Providence Riverwalk” that will help preserve the riverfront and protect communities vulnerable to flooding.
“To ensure that generations of Rhode Islanders can continue to enjoy all that our coastal communities have to offer, we need to invest in and strengthen our natural infrastructure that is being threatened by the effects of climate change,” he said.
The grant money will pay for green infrastructure projects and watershed-wide flood resilience projects along the Woonasquatucket to protect neighborhoods from flooding and extreme heat, improve water and habitat quality, and create jobs.
The Woonasquatucket River spans 51 square miles from the northwestern corner of Rhode Island and drains into the Providence River and Narragansett Bay. The watershed is stressed by flooding from stormwater and rising sea levels, poor water and habitat quality, and riverbank erosion, state environmental officials say.
The NCRF program, which was created several years ago by Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, funds coastal projects that restore and expand natural features, such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dunes and beaches, coastal forests and rivers, and floodplains that minimize the impacts of storms and sea-level rise from climate change.
Since 2018, the fund has invested more than $277 million on 270 projects across the nation, according to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which administers the fund.
The program has previously provided grants to the University of Rhode Island and Friends of Green Hill Pond, the Bristol County Water Authority, the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, among others.
