U.S. EPA awards $12.7 million for climate resilience in Presidio, Texas
Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA), in partnership with the City of Presidio, Texas, announced the award of a $12.7 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights.
The funding will support the “Everything’s Connected in Presidio: Building Climate Resiliency through Green Infrastructure and Reducing pollution through Traffic Mitigation at the International Bridge Crossing” project.
The project is focused on two strategies – climate resilience and pollution reduction – and seeks to use green infrastructure, nature-based solutions and technology to make a greener and more resilient city.
The project will mitigate extreme heat and flooding, reduce pollution and create a cooling center as a place of refuge during heat emergencies.
The “Everything’s Connected in Presidio” project
Highlights of the project include:
- Create a greenbelt to provide shade along the existing bike and walking path. This was selected because it runs through residential neighborhoods and connects the town’s schools, services and recreational areas.
- Plant thousands of native and mature trees for Presidio residents and throughout municipal spaces.
- Develop three detention ponds currently identified in the city’s master plan to capture water runoff during seasonal monsoons to help aquifer recharge.
- Create a native garden along the greenbelt for learning, cutting and community caretaking.
- Establish a solar-power and battery backup at the Presidio Activity Center, so the building can serve as a community cooling center in times of power outages during extreme heat.
- Develop an emergency cooling plan to help the community’s most vulnerable residents get to the cooling center in times of power outages.
- Create a bi-national air quality monitoring program run by the students at Presidio High School that uses off-the-shelf sensors on both sides of the border, understanding that both cities contribute to the quality of air.
- Utilize text messaging technology to send air quality and International Bridge traffic condition alerts with the goal to reduce crossing times and idling cars.
