Assistant Speaker of the U.S. House Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, Cambridge Vice Mayor Alanna Mallon, Patrick Herron of the Mystic River Watershed Association, Fred Lasky of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), and members of the Resilient Mystic Collaborative at the Mystic Dam to highlight new federal funding she secured in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget for the Mystic & Charles Regional Coastal Flood Interventions Project.The $750,000 will be used for analysis, planning, and sequencing for a coordinated set of coastal resilience strategies and interventions that together will reduce the risk of coastal flooding to Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, and Revere.
"Climate change is here, which means we need to make investments now to prevent disasters later. Communities along the Mystic River are particularly vulnerable to coastal flooding — especially neighborhoods often overlooked and overburdened by environmental injustice," said Assistant Speaker Clark. "I am immensely proud to have secured this funding to help take the necessary steps to prevent and mitigate flooding while strengthening our climate resiliency for the families in the Fifth District and beyond."
The Charles & Mystic River Regional Coastal Flood Interventions Project is one of ten community projects across Massachusetts' Fifth District that Assistant Speaker Clark secured funding for in the FY22 budget totaling over $11 million. President Biden signed the federal funding into law on March 15, 2022. "This is the latest of several regional projects for which Congresswoman Clark has secured funding and for which the City of Medford and our constituents will greatly benefit from her advocacy. I want to reiterate that communities like Medford that are situated on and have historically relied on the Mystic River are at far greater risk of impacts from flooding, particularly if we do not adequately plan for and actively work to address the impacts of climate change. Without the interventions proposed through this project, 25% of our community will be impacted by flooding beginning as soon as within the next 10 to 20 years. With this important funding, we will be able to greatly advance our regional planning and design to prevent future catastrophic flooding within our communities. So once again, I want to thank Congresswoman Clark for always being a wonderful partner and advocate for our communities, and thank you to my fellow mayors and all those who worked on this collaboratively — it's such an important project," said Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn.
"This is a really exciting day for us, and I just wanted to say thank you to Congresswoman Clark for always fighting for our communities in her district. This is one of the most important things that we need to be working on right now: the effects and mitigation of climate change. This isn't just about Cambridge - we know that climate change doesn't just stop at everyone's borders. I really want to say thank you again, Congresswoman Clark, for advocating for our communities, for securing this funding, and for providing this in a collaborative nature that I hope will be a blueprint for the future," said Cambridge Vice Mayor Alanna Mallon.
"Congresswoman Clark is an amazing representative for our district. She has put together a list of projects that is just remarkable — the homework that's been done and the tenacity with which she must has fought to get these projects, and my hats off to you for your tenacity and your hard work," said Fred Lasky, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA).
Due to rising sea levels, the dams that currently protect the community from coastal flooding will only be able to provide sufficient protection for an estimated 10 or 20 more years.
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