N.H. Coastal Program launches four coastal, flood resilience projects

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) has launched four new grant projects through its Coastal Program, providing $121,279 of federal grant funds and $47,250 of local match for coastal and flood resilience projects.

Selected for funding as part of the 2021 NHDES Coastal Resilience Grant funding opportunity, the projects reach several coastal communities to build local capacity and increase resilience of site-specific assets and coastal ecosystems.

“We are seeing significant increases in competitive federal funding opportunities to implement and construct coastal resilience projects, and we anticipate that funding will continue in the coming years,” says Kirsten Howard, resilience program coordinator for the NHDES Coastal Program. “These small grants are one piece of the puzzle to help our local partners access additional federal funding to implement nature-based, community-grounded projects in the future.”

All the funded projects began in spring 2022 and are expected to be completed in June 2023:

• The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire received $19,500 to assess groundwater encroachment, exacerbated by sea-level rise, that is posing risk to the basement of their historic headquarters building located in Portsmouth.
• The Rockingham County Conservation District was awarded $40,000 to conduct an alternatives analysis and preliminary design for a culvert replacement at Pit Lane in New Castle to improve salt marsh habitat and reduce road vulnerability to flooding.
• The Town of Exeter received $40,000 to advance a feasibility study to identify options to bring the Pickpocket Dam into compliance with NHDES dam safety rules and reduce associated flood risk and environmental harm.
• The Robinwood Center, based in Stratham, was awarded $21,779 to hold a climate justice storytelling series for Seacoast community members and explore opportunities to advance work at the intersection of climate and racial justice in coastal New Hampshire.

This marks the sixth time that the NHDES Coastal Program has offered funding for coastal resilience projects.

Between 2014 and 2022, 23 projects were funded throughout the New Hampshire coast totaling more than $970,000 in federal grant funds and more than $475,000 in match commitment from grantees.