Baker-Polito Administration Awards $100 Thousand Grant Pico Seawall

The Baker-Polito administration announced over $10.2 million in grants and loans to assist communities in addressing deteriorating dams and refurbishing critical coastal infrastructure.

The Town of Winthrop received $100,000 grant for the Pico Avenue seawalls. The Town of Winthrop experienced severe flooding in the Pico Avenue area during the January 2018 winter storm. There are some coastal protection structures in place but they were overwhelmed by the waves and storm surge. This award will be used to explore protection options for reducing flooding in the neighborhood.

The awards, funded by the dam and seawall repair or removal fund and the Governor’s annual capital budget, include engineering phase or construction phase support for nine dam repair projects, five dam removals, and eight coastal protection reconstruction projects.

“The Dam and Seawall program provides vital support to our communities so they can better prepare themselves, their economy and natural resources for natural hazards like coastal and inland flooding,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “Our administration was proud to recently pass a $2.4 billion bipartisan environmental bond bill that included over $500 million to help communities improve their resiliency to climate change and protect the environment.”

“The significant funding awarded to communities and organizations through our Dam and Seawall Program is an important component of our administration’s efforts to build resiliency across Massachusetts,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, who visited Winthrop during the storm to survey the damage. “By leveraging local investments, these grants and loans ensure municipalities are able to complete necessary infrastructure work and protect their communities from extreme weather.”

The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) Dam and Seawall Program will award $10,265,932 in grants and loans to 22 projects to help finalize designs, reconstruct critical infrastructure, or remove obsolete or unneeded structures. Since its inception in 2013, the Dam and Seawall Program has awarded over $60 million in grant and loans to attend to this important infrastructure.  

“Deteriorating dams and seawalls threaten the safety of residents, infrastructure, businesses, water supply, and the environment, and as a result we are committed to working with municipalities across the state to repair or remove these structures,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton.  “Through this program, as well as our nation-leading Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program and State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan, the Baker-Polito Administration has made preparing for the effects of climate change and increasing extreme weather events a priority.”

The Dam and Seawall Program builds upon the Baker-Polito Administration’s commitment to strengthen the resilience of communities throughout Massachusetts by coordinating assistance to cities and towns as they prepare for the impacts of climate change. Continuing this commitment, Governor Baker recently signed legislation allocates over $2.4 billion for investments in safeguarding residents, municipalities and businesses from the impacts of climate change, protecting environmental resources, and investing in communities, and put into law essential components of Governor Baker’s Executive Order 569 establishing an integrated strategy for climate change adaptation across the Commonwealth, including the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant program and the Statewide Hazard Mitigation and Adaptation Plan.