The Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) recently funded three exciting projects under its Municipal Resilience Grant Program. Each unique project will bolster local resilience and provide results that can be applied across the state as other communities seek to become better prepared to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather. Those funded are:
Town of Oxford – Planning for Flood Resilient and Fish-Friendly Road-Stream Crossings in the Southern Naugatuck Valley
The Town of Oxford, in partnership with the Town of Seymour, will assess its road-stream crossings to identify undersized structures (looking at current and future climate conditions). In both towns, road-stream crossings are highly vulnerable to floods as well as potential areas for conscious, conservation-oriented development. The towns will work with several partners to identify priority crossings, in order to target their future mitigation efforts. Oxford and Seymour will develop pre-replacement plans for structures most at-risk, and prioritized based on flood damage risk, crossing condition and maintenance need, and habitat restoration value. The towns plans to collaborate with CIRCA for the culvert vulnerability modeling portion of the project.
Through this project the towns will also develop a road-stream crossing inventory and a management plan. The resulting planning documents will be adopted as an annex to each town’s Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan facilitating implementation of the identified mitigation responses.
South Central Regional Council of Governments – Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Planning for Protection of Public Drinking Water
In this project SCRCOG will integrate climate change information into water planning processes for the region as well as develop an adaptation plan for this essential sector for the SCRCOG region and the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority.
With changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and drought anticipated due to climate change, water resource managers will benefit from integration of climate data into planning. The SCRCOG will work with regional planners, utility water managers, and climate science experts at UConn who are Affiliated Faculty of CIRCA to identify climate risks and thresholds of importance to the regions water utilities, conduct a historical climate data analysis for the region, and prepare/analyze future climate projections and impacts. Using a scenario approach SCRCOG will assist water utility managers as they incorporate this data into planning activities.
SCRCOG will also create a guide for other regional entities and/or municipalities considering integration of climate change data into planning efforts.
Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments, Southeastern Connecticut Critical Facilities Assessment: SCCOG will perform an assessment at critical facilities across the region. This project was a recommendation of the Annex reports for individual municipalities found within the 2012 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update. With a focus on flood risk, the SCCOG will identify hazards and flood prevention options at facilities such as fire and police stations, sewer and wastewater treatment systems, medical facilities, schools, town buildings and senior housing. The results of the study will help member towns incorporate resilience planning into funding priorities.
CIRCA looks forward to working with the recipients! For more information on CIRCA’s funding programs, visit our website at: http://circa.uconn.edu.