Rhode Island City Receives Storm Water Pollution Grant
Partners for Places awarded a grant award of $54,240 to the City of Newport, Rhode Island as a means to tackle flooding issues.
This grant aims to support residents of Newport’s North End neighborhood with the tools they need to participate in municipal discussions that affect the neighborhood, according to GoLocalProv.
“In Newport, inequitable access to resources makes it difficult for residents in the low-income neighborhood of North End to have the same opportunities offered to residents in other parts of the city,” according to the Funders’ Network.
The project will allow residents to discover nature-based solutions to flooding caused by storm water runoff due to poor drainage in the area, added the Funders’ Network. The North End is often vulnerable to storm water pollution and flooding in the area.
The award was matched locally, ultimately totaling $108,479.
Intense storms due to climate change have doubled the number of precipitation events in Rhode Island occurring annually since 1914, according to the RI Green Infrastructure Coalition.
The Newport Health Equity Zone (HEZ) and City of Newport Utilities Department are collaborating with the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District (ERICD) to bring together North End residents and engage them in productive discussions about which green infrastructure installation and open space will be best in their neighborhood.
"The Newport HEZ is excited to support the work of the City of Newport and ERICD to address environmental justice concerns in the North End of Newport," said Jessica Walsh, Director of Prevention at Women’s Resource Center and HEZ collaborator.
Since the North End of Newport has been identified as a critical area for near-future economic and innovation development in the Newport Comprehensive Plan and Newport Tree, Park and Open Space Master Plan, this will be a focus of the project.