HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is proposing an expansion of the Climate Resilience Fund Program to help more communities deal with climate change impacts, like severe flooding .
“We are looking at ways we can build a more resilient Connecticut proactively that can better withstand, adapt to and recover faster from these events,” DEEP commissioner Katie Dykes said.
In Meriden, the city green doubles as a stormwater park. It was built to prevent flooding in nearby neighborhoods and downtown.
LIST: These new Connecticut laws go into effect Oct. 1 “The interior of the park is a giant bowl,” Meriden City Engineer Brian Ennis said. “It’s designed to hold 53 acre-feet of water. That’s about 17 and a half million gallons of water.”
That project took a decade to complete. DEEP established a Climate Resilience Fund Program that rolled out $8.8 million last year to help 17 communities plan resilience projects. Dykes announced Wednesday that DEEP wants to get more state funding to establish a deployment fund that would help pay for the construction of these projects. She added that more state funding could be leveraged to get more federal funding.
“The more we can attract federal funding, the more projects we can do and the better we can protect communities while not burdening them with 100% of the cost,” Dykes said.
She said that the impacts of climate change are costly. She said resilience projects could also save communities money and keep people safe.
“Initial estimates have found that the Aug. 18 flooding event might have cost more than $200,000 million in damage to transportation and other infrastructure and damage more than 2300 homes and businesses and tragic loss of life,” Dykes said.
Areas impacted by floods, like Southbury and Oxford, are already considering resilience projects. As part of its response to the floods, DEEP offered contractors to help communities plan stronger, safer infrastructure.
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