Yesterday the Youngkin Administration announced it has awarded $13.6 million in flood preparedness grants to 27 projects across Virginia using funding generated by Virginia’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The Community Flood Preparedness Fund grant awards announced this week include projects in Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore, Central Virginia, Charlottesville, Northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, and Southwest Virginia.
RGGI is currently the only source of statewide funding in Virginia dedicated to local resiliency planning and projects, which protect Virginians from flooding due to extreme storms and sea level rise. In Virginia, resiliency plans must prioritize nature-based designs that both address flooding and reduce pollution to waterways.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Virginia Executive Director Peggy Sanner issued the following statement.
“These grants will help communities across Virginia plan for and strategically respond to the effects of severe weather, flooding, and climate change—threats that Virginia faces not only in coastal regions during hurricane season, but across the Commonwealth throughout the year.
“The planning work supported by these projects is an important early step for communities as they adapt to threats climate change. This important work is only possible because of the funding from Virginia’s participation in RGGI.”
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Editor’s note: A list of projects and cities and counties awarded grants is available at this link: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/dam-safety-and-floodplains/dsfpm-cfpf-awards
