Climate change is usually associated with warmer winters, hotter summers and drought conditions. But the opposite extreme can be just as bad.
As the residents of Leominster and surrounding communities learned last fall, sometimes climate change is very, very wet.
In light extreme flooding the town faced last year, Governor Maura Healey chose Leominster as the site of her Thursday, Aug. 1 announcement of $52.4 million in grants dedicated to improving climate resilience across Massachusetts.
“We have seen the devastation caused by extreme weather and heard the calls for help. Today, we are continuing our promise to help communities in addressing last year's challenges and taking proactive steps to reduce future climate risks,” said Governor Healey in a press release. “These grants are more than just financial support – they are a strong statement of our commitment to resilience.”
The MVP Program provides local communities with state resources to identify potential climate-related issues and create solutions to mitigate impacts, such as inland flooding, more frequent and severe storms, rising sea levels, drought, and extreme temperatures.
The project involves construction of a coastal storm surge barrier (flood barrier), storm surge control facility, riverfront nature-based solutions, and related amenities at the Island End River to protect the surrounding area from flooding.
The remaining top four grants are Athol (greening the Lord Pond Plaza), Bridgewater (Hanson Farm Conservation Restriction purchase), Haverhill (Little River Dam Removal and River Restoration), and Barnstable (Sandy Neck Beach Facility Coastal Resiliency Project). Athol, Bridgewater and Haverhill are all $3,000,000 and Barnstable is close behind at $2,833,849.
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization & Metropolitan Area Planning Council also received over $1 million for countering heat in public transportation.
The effect of extreme heat on transportation infrastructure has been well documented, especially in cities like Boston where residents rely on public transportation.
A total of 71 projects have been awarded grants, including 62 for municipalities, seven for regional planning agencies, and two for tribes.
| Grantee | Project Title | Total Award |
| Amherst (Public Works Department) | Phase 2: Fort River Watershed Improvements for Flood & Water Quality Resilience | $1,179,700 |
| Ashburnham | Whitney Pond Dam Removal and River Restoration | $377,652 |
| Ashfield | Ashfield Rural Climate Resilience and Living Culture Project | $166,001 |
| Athol | Greening the Lord Pond Plaza | $3,000,000 |
| Barnstable | Sandy Neck Beach Facility Coastal Resiliency Project | $2,833,849 |
| Billerica | Flowing Toward Resilience: Climate Change and Hydraulic Capacity of Culverts | $129,500 |
| Bolton | Future Resilient Field at Derby | $488,824 |
| Boston (& Revere) | Resilient Bennington Street & Fredericks Park Project (Phase II) | $456,500 |
| Boston | Community-Based Flood Resilience and Green Infrastructure Planning | $449,710 |
| Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization & Metropolitan Area Planning Council (& Chelsea, Everett, Framingham, Revere) | NO-HEAT: Neutralizing Onerous Heat Effects on Active Transportation | $1,001,100 |
| Bridgewater | Hanson Farm Conservation Restriction Purchase | $3,000,000 |
| Cambridge (& Mystic River Communities) | Developing Successful, Cost-Effective, Urban Forest Strategies for Areas of High- and Low-Tree Mortality Across the Mystic Watershed | $276,800 |
| Dartmouth | Nature-Based Solutions Retrofit of Critical Infrastructure within Coastal Flood-Prone Areas Town of Dartmouth - Phase 2 | $113,100 |
| Deerfield | Bloody Brook Resilience Hydrologic/Hydraulic Modeling | $170,300 |
| Dudley | Stormwater Retrofit Program at the Dudley Municipal Complex | $281,000 |
| Everett (& Chelsea) | Island End River Flood Resilience Project | $5,000,000 |
| Everett (& Chelsea, Malden, Arlington) | Wicked Cool Mystic - Súper Fresco Místico | $687,000 |
| Fitchburg | Nature-base Solutions for a Resilient Coolidge Park | $323,160 |
| Franklin Regional Council of Governments (& Regional Communities) | Resilient Together: Building Partnerships in the Greater Connecticut River Watershed | $646,025 |
| Georgetown | Georgetown Park & Ride Library Street Resiliency Improvements | $68,265 |
| Greenfield | Building Community and Resilience through Plantings at Millers Meadow | $37,830 |
| Hampden | Town of Hampden Main Street Bridge Replacement and Green Solutions Project | $275,450 |
| Harwich | Red River Valley Preserve Watershed Resiliency Project | $1,800,000 |
| Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band | Nukkone Mayash (the Old Ways) | $823,446 |
| Haverhill | Little River Dam Removal and River Restoration | $3,000,000 |
| Holyoke | Green Infrastructure Construction in the Day Brook Watershed | $1,229,730 |
| Kingston | Purchasing the Correira Bogs in Kingston, MA | $1,620,000 |
| Lanesborough (& Mount Washington, Blandford, Goshen, Middlefield, Shutesbury) | Western Massachusetts Unpaved Road Project | $432,096 |
| Lawrence | Green Lawrence Blue Merrimack: Stormwater Resilience Master Plan | $1,601,840 |
| Leominster | Burrage & Mascoma Neighborhood Area Flood Mitigation Project | $487,483 |
| Lowell | Saint Louis Sponge Park Phase 2 | $979,120 |
| Martha's Vineyard Commission (& Regional Communities) | Martha's Vineyard Public Food Forest Plan | $97,764 |
| Mashpee | Increasing Resilience to Harmful Algal Blooms in Santuit Pond: Construction of Town Landing Resilience Improvements | $1,669,956 |
| Medford | Resilient Urban Forest Master Plan | $220,900 |
| Medford | Strengthening Medford Connects: An Interconnected Resiliency Network for Future Resilience Hubs | $746,580 |
| Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (& Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Revere, Winthrop) | Lower Mystic Cool Communications to Build Regional Heat Resiliency | $490,813 |
| Middleborough | School Street Parking Lot Project | $171,230 |
| Monson | Chicopee Brook Flood Resilience Improvements | $487,500 |
| Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (& Leominster) | Looking Upstream, Learning Downstream: A Geo-Spatial Chronicle and Lessons Learned from the Leominster Flood Emergency of 9/11/2023 | $458,400 |
| Natick (& Charles River Communities) | Charles River Watershed Flood Mitigation Plan Implementation | $330,492 |
| Natick | Natick High School Constructed Wetland and Subwatershed Evaluation | $266,400 |
| Newton | Flood Storage and Bank Restoration Along Cheesecake Brook | $1,240,995 |
| North Adams (& Clarksburg) | North Adams Flood Resiliency | $1,061,203 |
| North Andover | Cochichewick Brook Riverine Floodplain Management Study and Plan | $133,150 |
| Northampton | Northampton Critical Infrastructure Flood Resiliency Project | $337,615 |
| Norwood | Norwood Nature Based Solutions to Reduce Flooding and Heat | $144,300 |
| Old Colony Planning Council (& Brockton, Plymouth, Abington, Easton, Duxbury) | Building a Climate Resilient Food System in Plymouth County | $245,500 |
| Orange | Fisher Hill School Solar/Bess and Outdoor Classroom | $390,290 |
| Oxford | Petroleum to Pollinator: Design to Restore a Former Gas Station Back to Nature | $206,100 |
| Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (& Regional Communities) | Toward Greater Resilience in our Drinking Water Supply: A Regional Plan for the Pioneer Valley (1st Phase) | $420,223 |
| Pittsfield | Unkamet Brook Restoration | $275,000 |
| Plymouth | Plymouth Downtown Resiliency Project: Green and Heat Island Reduction Infrastructure | $360,265 |
| Provincetown | Resilient Central Vacuum Station | $1,000,000 |
| Reading (& Upper Mystic River Communities) | Resilient Facilities Project: Finding Solutions for Flood-Prone Sites that Serve Priority Populations | $522,500 |
| Salem | Resilient Together: The Point | $466,380 |
| Shutesbury | Library Solar with Ford Lightning Battery Backup | $222,105 |
| Somerville (& Everett, Medford, Cambridge, Winthrop, Chelsea, Revere) | Centering Social Equity in Regional Systems: Lower Mystic Resilient Community Centers Network | $ 310,100 |
| South Hadley | Pearl Street/Elmer Brook Culvert Replacement | $1,283,063 |
| Stoneham (& Upper Mystic River Communities) | Stoneham High School Wetlands Restoration Project | $2,346,126 |
| Stoughton | Stoughton Town-Wide Culvert Assessment | $312,982 |
| Sudbury | Locally Grown Sudbury | $92,500 |
| Townsend | Climate Resilient Drainage Masterplan - Townsend, MA | $154,500 |
| Tyngsborough | Bridge Meadow Brook Culvert Replacement | $326,500 |
| Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) | 27 Aquinnah Circle Land Improvements | $717,500 |
| Washington | Depot Brook Flood Resilience Project | $311,994 |
| Watertown | Equity-Based Community Greening Program: Phase 2 | $976,270 |
| Wenham (& Hamilton, Ipswich) | Miles River Watershed Action Plan | $60,048 |
| Westport | East Beach Voluntary Buy-Out Pilot Program | $60,000 |
| Whately | The Future Looks Like Whately: Planting Resilience through Nature-Based Solutions | $82,542 |
| Wilmington (& North Reading) | Building the Climate Resilience of the Martins Brook Floodway | $321,560 |
| Yarmouth | Route 28 Corridor Resiliency | $167,301 |
| Total (71) | $52,424,128 |
