In the midst of an historic pandemic, political polarization, and deep economic disruption, more than a ray of hope. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs just awarded $11.1 million in funding to cities and towns for climate resilience under the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program.
“In this fourth round of MVP Action Grants, we are seeing the continuation of many projects we helped fund in the planning stage that are now ready for on-the-ground implementation,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides in the Commonwealth’s press release. “We are pleased to see the hard work of our municipal partners pay off in this way and are also excited for the many new communities that are just starting to take action to build resilience to climate change through the MVP planning process.”
Among those communities most benefitting from MVP funding are those involved in the Resilient Mystic Collaborative (RMC), a voluntary partnership among 20 cities and towns in the Mystic River Watershed. The RMC focuses on regional climate preparedness projects that cannot be accomplished by individual communities, including stormwater and coastal flooding, and protecting vulnerable residents and workers from extreme weather such as storms and heatwaves. Together, RMC communities secured $1.6 million, or 15 percent of available state funding through two regional grants and six individual grants.
“Communities across the Commonwealth are making it clear that they are eager to advance climate resilience, and this fourth round of MVP Action Grant application review was our most competitive to date.” said Carolyn Meklenburg, Regional Coordinator for Greater Boston. “We are excited to see strong regional projects in this round that strategically bring funding to multiple municipalities and address a range of climate change vulnerabilities, like the Resilient Mystic Collaborative’s extreme heat study and flood mitigation work.”
“Although we are incredibly grateful that the state awarded RMC communities over ten percent of the total funding for the second grant cycle in a row, this is neither sustainable nor fair to the rest of the 312 Massachusetts communities enrolled in the MVP program.” said Julie Wormser, deputy director of the Mystic River Watershed Association and RMC facilitator. “It is essential that dedicated funding for this program be significantly increased.”
The Resilient Mystic Collaborative was awarded two regional grants totaling $856,200. The Town of Lexington successfully secured $670,000 to design and permit three new stormwater wetlands across as many communities to help manage regional flooding and provide local benefits. This is the second year of MVP funding the RMC has received for this work. The first year helped identify and priorities a top twenty candidate sites for large (three acres or more) new wetlands from over 425 possible land parcels.
“We are very excited to be part of the team that received an action grant for managing stormwater flooding at a regional scale,” said John Livsey, Lexington Town Engineer. “It has been an excellent experience working with other cities and towns within the Resilient Mystic Collaborative. This watershed approach is paramount toward improving resiliency. Seeing such commitment from Mystic communities as well as the support of the Commonwealth through the MVP program has been invigorating.”
The second regional grant for $186,200 was secured by the Town of Arlington to create a digital map layer for the entire Mystic Watershed by measuring ground-level temperature, humidity, and air quality during heat waves in Summer 2021. “Wicked Hot Mystic” is a partnership among the Museum of Science, Mystic River Watershed Association, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, GreenRoots, and municipalities that builds on the success of “Wicked Hot Boston” in 2019. The map will be used to identify priorities for decreasing urban heat islands and protecting resident and worker health. This research will also involve significant community science and education around increasing summer temperatures.
“Greater Boston endured multiple extreme heat events this summer, so Arlington greatly appreciates EEA’s dedication to mitigate extreme heat impacts across the Commonwealth ,” said Emily Sullivan, Arlington Environmental Planner. “By coordinating data collection and standardizing heat metrics, the watershed will be able to better understand its most vulnerable areas and more effectively coordinate resources to build resilience to extreme heat.”
"Through funding projects like Wicked Hot Mystic, Malden River Works, and Chelsea's Urban Island Mitigation project, the Commonwealth is choosing to prioritize the effect of extreme summer heat on environmental justice communities, something that has too long flown under the radar,” said Melanie Gárate, MyRWA’s Climate Resiliency Project Manager. “I am thrilled to build on the regional partnerships fostered by the Resilient Mystic Collaborative to help create long-lasting equitable solutions to those most vulnerable within our watershed.”
“Through the Museum of Science’s Wicked Hot Boston study, we have learned how extreme weather and climate events threaten communities in the lower Mystic region differently and can worsen social inequities,” said David Sittenfeld, Manager, Forums and National Collaborations. “We look forward to continuing this work at a broader scale and investigate the efficacy of strategies that can help to address these environmental and public health concerns.”
In addition, six Mystic Watershed municipalities secured a total of $742,496, as listed and described below:
“The Revere Coastal Resilience Feasibility Study for the Point of Pines and Riverside Area grant is an essential opportunity to focus on comprehensive resiliency planning efforts,” said Elle Baker, Project Planner with Revere’s Strategic Planning and Economic Development Office. “This low lying area is subject to chronic flooding and is highly vulnerable to sea level rise, storm surge, and extreme weather events. Together with state agency partners we will identify measures to mitigate risk for our residents, businesses, and critical infrastructure.”
“Malden River Works is an incredible community-driven project that epitomizes our efforts to invest in the resiliency of our people as well as the resiliency of our infrastructure,” said Maria Luise, Special Assistant to Mayor Gary Christenson of Malden. “Receiving the MVP Action Grant will propel this project forward and we're thrilled that the State has recognized the importance of equity in climate adaptation.”
“The City of Medford is proud and honored to be partners in these efforts to make sure our communities are prepared for and actively working to combat climate change and increase our climate resiliency,” said Alicia Hunt, Director of Energy and Environment and Acting Director of Community Development of Medford. “To be effective in addressing and preparing for climate change we need to work with every member of our community and create a regional approach. Our MVP grants really highlight the progress we can make by working together.”
“The City of Chelsea, a founding partner of the Resilient Mystic Collaborative, commends the Collaborative and its member communities on securing MVP Action Grant funding,” said Alex Train, Director of Housing and Community Development in Chelsea. “As a densely populated environmental justice community, the City of Chelsea is continually impacted by racial inequities, climate change, and widespread pollution. Urban heat, compounded by air pollution, disproportionately affects low income communities and communities of color. Through our concerted efforts, we seek to engage residents through community science and deepen our understanding of urban heat through the lens of equity.”
“MAPC is excited to be a key partner in this effort,” said Cammy Peterson, Clean Energy Director. “Mystic River communities are among the region's most impacted by urban heat islands, which can be up to 22 degrees hotter than surrounding suburban communities. Through our work with the City of Cambridge and Wicked Hot Mystic we are eager to better understand the challenge of extreme heat, while also engaging with community members through community science."
For more information:
Resilient Mystic Collaborative: resilient.mysticriver.org
Mystic River Watershed Association: www.mysticriver.org
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Mystic River Watershed at a Glance
The 76-square-mile Mystic River Watershed stretches from Reading through the northern shoreline of Boston Harbor to Revere. An Anglicized version of the Pequot word missi-tuk (“large river with wind- and tide-driven waves”), it is now one of New England’s most densely populated, urbanized watersheds.
In the 1960s, the Amelia Earhart Dam transformed much of the river into a freshwater impoundment, while construction of Interstate 93 filled in wetlands and dramatically changed the river’s course. Since then, many former industrial sites have been cleaned up and redeveloped into commercial areas and residences.
The Mystic is facing growing climate-related challenges: coastal and stormwater flooding, extreme storms, heat, drought and unpredictable seasonal weather. Its 21 municipalities are home to a half-million residents, including many who are disproportionately vulnerable to extreme weather: environmental justice communities, elders, low-income residents and workers, people living with disabilities, and English-language learners.
