For towns with little or no expertise in dealing with the extremes of climate change — or small staffs, or little money, or all of the above — a resource like Stormwater Corps can be invaluable. It can also help municipalities substitute green infrastructure for some of the big, traditional, so-called gray stormwater infrastructure, like drains, sewers, pump stations and bridge replacements, which is often prohibitively expensive. Flooding and stormwater are cited as the top concerns in a recent needs assessment conducted in the coastal zone around the whole of Long Island Sound. That has been underscored by relentless extreme rains that started this summer and are now predicted into the winter. But Stormwater Corps is not the only resource for these towns. DEEP is already planning to start a matching-fund program to help communities with the match that’s necessary for most federal grant programs.
For CT towns struggling to deal with flooding, help is on the way