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Coastal Program and Partners Kick Off Four Projects to Enhance Community and Environmental Resilience as Coastal Hazards Increase
Portsmouth, NH - The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) Coastal Program is excited to announce that four new grant projects have officially begun, providing $121,279 of federal grant funds and mobilizing $47,250 of local match, to enhance resilience of New Hampshire communities in the face of increasing coastal flood risks. Selected for funding as part of the 2021 NHDES Coastal Resilience Grant funding opportunity, the projects reach several coastal communities to build local capacity and increase resilience of site-specific assets and coastal ecosystems.
“We are seeing significant increases in competitive federal funding opportunities to implement and construct coastal resilience projects, and we anticipate that funding will continue in the coming years. These small grants are one piece of the puzzle to help our local partners access additional federal funding to implement nature-based, community-grounded projects in the future,” says Kirsten Howard, Resilience Program Coordinator for the NHDES Coastal Program.
The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire was awarded $19,500 to assess groundwater encroachment, exacerbated by sea-level rise, that is posing risk to the basement of their historic headquarters building located in Portsmouth. The Rockingham County Conservation District was awarded $40,000 to conduct an alternatives analysis and preliminary design for a culvert replacement at Pit Lane in New Castle to improve salt marsh habitat and reduce road vulnerability to flooding. The Town of Exeter was awarded $40,000 to advance a feasibility study to identify options to bring the Pickpocket Dam into compliance with NHDES dam safety rules and reduce associated flood risk and environmental harm. The Robinwood Center, based in Stratham, was awarded $21,779 to hold a climate justice storytelling series for Seacoast community members and explore opportunities to advance work at the intersection of climate and racial justice in coastal New Hampshire. The projects began in spring 2022 and will be completed in June 2023.
This marks the sixth time that the NHDES Coastal Program has offered funding for coastal resilience projects. Between 2014 and 2022, 23 projects were funded throughout the New Hampshire coast totaling more than $970,000 in federal grant funds and more than $475,000 in match commitment from grantees. For more information about the New Hampshire Coastal Resilience Grant funding opportunity, including descriptions of previously funded projects, please visit the program website. The New Hampshire Coastal Program anticipates offering the next Coastal Resilience Grant solicitation in early 2023.
Funds for this grant opportunity are provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal Management under the Coastal Zone Management Act in conjunction with the NHDES Coastal Program. For more information about New Hampshire’s future coastal flood hazard projections, explore the Coastal Flood Risk Summary resources.
Please direct questions about the New Hampshire Coastal Resilience Grant project and funding opportunity to Kirsten Howard of the NHDES Coastal Program at (603) 559-0020 or kirsten.b.howard@des.nh.gov.