Eighteen months. Seventeen Communities. Over 425 candidate sites and $1.1 million in grant funding. The result: we are in the process of designing and permitting our first three large stormwater wetlands to help manage current and future flooding in the Mystic River watershed.
Partnering with state and local agencies and consultants from Kleinfelder and Stantec, the Resilient Mystic Collaborative’s Upper Mystic working group completed tabletop assessments of all 425 open space parcels three acres or more across the Mystic River Watershed. These sites were prioritized based on 1) physical characteristics such as regional flood storage capacity, soil type, depth to bedrock, as well as anticipated habitat, water quality, and open space improvements, 2) equity (does the flooding occur in environmental justice communities?), and 3) feasibility and readiness of a community to advance a project. The team narrowed the list down to 140, then 20, then 6, and finally to three locations to move to “shovel ready” design.
In September 2020, the Town of Lexington received a $670,000 regional grant from the State MVP program on behalf of the entire Resilient Mystic Collaborative (RMC). The grant allows cities and towns to engage local residents in community-engaged design for the first three restored or enhances wetland areas. Additional sites will be readied for community design in coming years.
“Lexington has a unique opportunity being at the top of the watershed to capture rain as soon as it hits the ground in order to reduce flooding,” said Michael Sprague, Lexington’s Senior Civil Engineer. “Being able to reduce local flooding is something every community has to deal with, but by being a part of the RMC we can see the positive effects this has on our neighbors at a regional scale.”
Patrick Herron, MyRWA's Executive Director, noted, "we are proud of the innovative, collaborative work the RMC and our municipal partners are undertaking to reduce climate change related flooding--and its impact on people and property. We look forward to more robust partnership in 2021.”
Check out photos of the site visits and selection exercise below. Photos by Leo March.
