PERTH AMBOY, NJ (AP) — The federal government is giving more than half a billion dollars to coastal communities to help them use nature-based preventive measures to address flooding and other climate-related disasters.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday that it is allocating $575 million to 19 resiliency projects across multiple states, with a particular emphasis on Native American, urban and traditionally underserved communities that suffer repeated floods, wildfires and other related disasters. to the climate.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement that the effort was intended to “help ensure that America’s coastal communities are more resilient to the effects of climate change.”
Projects include more than $72 million for so-called “living shorelines” in New Jersey, using native plants, oyster reefs and other natural materials to restore and protect shorelines. There is also money to replace sidewalks with permeable pavement, to cover buildings with plants to help absorb heat, and to establish parks in flood-prone areas that can absorb flood waters.
Other work includes climate risk assessments for more than 100 Native communities in Alaska, expanding tribal adaptation technical assistance across the state, and sharing local knowledge.
It also includes using nature-based solutions to protect Monterrey Bay in California, establishing native forests to reduce the risk of wildfires in Hawaii, and opening spaces on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island.
Officials from NOAA and the U.S. Department of Commerce held a press conference Friday in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to describe some of the work planned for that state, which was hit by superstorm Sandy. The meeting was held on a beachfront walkway that was rebuilt with government recovery funds after the 2012 storm.
“Climate change is real, it’s here and it’s now,” said Shawn LaTourette, New Jersey’s environmental protection commissioner. “We are victims of routine floods that drive families out of their homes very frequently. This illustrates the need for federal action and investment.”
Money is part NOAA Regional Climate Resilience Challenge financed by the Inflation Reduction Act.
Environmental groups have long favored natural coastal protection over so-called “hard engineering” solutions like seawalls and bulkheads. They argue this could worsen erosion by causing sand and sediment to be washed away from the barriers.
Many coastal communities seek to use a mix of both types of coastal protection in areas where nature-based solutions alone are not sufficient.
But some innovative projects have emerged from this school of thought, including work by the American Littoral Society of New Jersey to protect an eroded river shore, using coconut husk fibers on mats to stabilize the ground where the water meets.
U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, said several of the projects will incorporate rain gardens, “green roofs” and permeable pavements to absorb rainwater and storm water rather than conveying it to sewers that quickly overflow.
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