Martinsburg, W.Va., has begun work on the first phase of the “Regrowing Green City” project. According to The Journal, the city was awarded a $30,000 grant for funding the project.
The project will address watershed and flooding issues, but will also allow the city to employ more appealing solutions to the city’s water issues, city officials said.
“Uncertainties around flooding can make companies and private investors wary of spending on improvements that might be washed away in the next flood,” said Shane Farthing, City of Martinsburg community and economic development director, according to The Journal. “Good storm water management mitigates flooding while also providing functional green space that can make a community more attractive and healthier, thereby improving quality-of-place for residents and visitors, as well as laying the groundwork for further investment.”
According to The Journal, the project provides design and construction concepts for flash flood-prone areas resulting from improved green infrastructure practices. Grant funding will allow Martinsburg to address a major issue in the city amid the severe weather in the Eastern Panhandle, Chesapeake Bay Stormwater Coordinator Jared Tomlin said.
“This funding will go toward engineered plans to address a pump station that was installed a couple years ago on Raleigh Street where 100 acres contribute to this basin from the runoff from the impervious surface of downtown,” Tomlin said to The Journal. “The station does its job but, because of the rain, it needs help so we don’t have to lean on that so hard. So this has been a high priority for the city.”
The Chesapeake Bay Trust with the U.S. EPA, Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the City of Baltimore Office of Sustainability received a total of $965,972 in funding for the Chesapeake Bay Green Streets, Green Jobs, and Green Towns Grant Program.
