Bioswales

Established through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program aims to help make surface transportation more resilient to natural hazards, including climate change, sea level rise, flooding, extreme weather events, and other natural disasters. Funding is available for planning activities, resilience improvements, community resilience and evacuation routes, and at-risk costal infrastructure. Projects selected under this program should be grounded in the best available scientific understanding of climate change risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities, and should utilize innovative and collaborative approaches to risk reduction, including the use of nature-based solutions.

This workbook made by Groundwork Bridgeport provides a thorough but accessible introduction to green stormwater infrastructure. The workbook explains the issues that green infrastructure can help solve, introduces several green infrastructure methods, and then provides definitions, explains why each is uses, and details how to build them.

Awards small grants in support of grassroots efforts and community-based environmental work in New England. The Grassroots Fund utilizes participatory grantmaking to move resources to New England grassroots groups working at the intersections of Environmental Justice. The program is geared toward groups who have some experience implementing a project in their community. Grants support groups to deepen their work by further developing a community vision, lowering barriers to participation, identifying new stakeholders, and working to bring more voices and lived experiences into core decision-making processes.

The Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program is a competitive program that provides funding to states, federally recognized Tribal governments, U.S. territories, and local governments. Since the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 was signed into law, funds are used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program.

EPA is accepting applications on a rolling basis for $2 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding available to support community-driven projects that build capacity for communities to tackle environmental and climate justice challenges, strengthen their climate resilience, and advance clean energy.

The Suffolk County Water Quality Improvement Division works to protect and improve Suffolk County’s ground and surface waters. The WQPRP provides funding to protect and restore surface and groundwater resources throughout the County. Funding is available for both planning/ engineering and construction expenses.

The Green Innovation Grant Program (GIGP) supports projects across New York State that utilize unique EPA-designated green stormwater infrastructure design and create cutting-edge green technologies. Competitive grants are awarded annually to projects that improve water quality and mitigate the effects of climate change through the implementation of one or more of the following green practices: Green Stormwater Infrastructure, Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency and Environmental Innovation.

Local Waterfront Revitalization Program provides grants to municipalities along New York’s coasts or designated inland waterways to advance the preparation or implementation of strategies for community and waterfront revitalization through the following grant categories: 1) Preparing or Updating a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP), 2) Updating an LWRP to be more Resilient to Climate Risk,s 3) Preparing an LWRP Component, including a Watershed Management Plan, and 4) Implementing a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program or a completed LWRP Component.

Projects must meet one or more of the follow criteria in Nassau County:
a. Conserve or improve soils
b. Improve water quality of our groundwater and/or surface water
c. Control and prevent soil erosion and/or prevent floodwater and sediment damages
d. Conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water
e. Preserve, increase, or improve natural resources including trees and plants
f. Control or eliminate invasive plants or wildlife
g. Control and abate NPS water pollution
h. Preserve wildlife

The EPOC Grant Program provides non-profit and not-for-profit environmental advocacy groups, community based groups and environmental education organizations funding for local projects that benefit the environment.

Through the Clean Water Fund, CT DEEP is able to provide grants and low-interest loans for infrastructure projects to meet clean water needs such as addressing combined sewer overflows, nutrient pollution, wastewater collection infrastructure needs, and projects using green infrastructure and addressing resiliency.

The Connecticut Society for Women Environmental Professionals Grant Program provides funding for local projects in Connecticut that benefit the environment. Grants of up to $2,000 will be awarded. Any application meeting the grant guidelines that is not successful in one cycle may reapply during any following cycle. The applications will be judged based on the environmental benefits of each project, in comparison to others. “Environmental benefits” can vary widely and successful applications have ranged from property clean-ups to environmental education.

NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program is an environmental education program that promotes place-based experiential learning for K–12 students and related professional development for teachers.This funding opportunity focuses on projects combining long-term, classroom-integrated “Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences” and capacity building for K-12 Environmental Literacy at the state and local level.

Awards small grants in support of grassroots efforts and community-based environmental work in New England. The Grassroots Fund utilizes participatory grantmaking to move resources to New England grassroots groups working at the intersections of Environmental Justice. The program is geared toward groups who have some experience implementing a project in their community. Grants support groups to deepen their work by further developing a community vision, lowering barriers to participation, identifying new stakeholders, and working to bring more voices and lived experiences into core decision-making processes.

Grants are awarded for projects that address Nonpoint Source impacts in surface waters including creation and implementation of approved Watershed Based Plans.

Sustainable CT’s Community Match Fund is an innovative program that provides fast, flexible funding and support for engaging your community on wide-ranging sustainability projects. Eligible projects receive dollar-for-dollar matching funds from Sustainable CT.

The NEP Coastal Watersheds Grant Program is a nationally competitive grants program designed to support projects that address urgent and challenging issues threatening the well-being of coastal and estuarine areas within determined estuaries of national significance.

The Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program is a competitive program that provides funding to states, federally recognized Tribal governments, U.S. territories, and local governments. Since the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 was signed into law, funds are used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program.

The Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF) will be seeking proposals to restore the health and living resources of Long Island Sound (Sound) with approximately $12 million in funding in 2024. The program is managed by National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Long Island Sound Study (LISS). Major funding is from EPA through the LISS with additional funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Avangrid Foundation.

With support from the Nature Conservancy and Sustainable CT, East Haddam organized a Community Resilience Building process and workshop, the results of which were compiled into this summary. The team engaged with community members to determine the present hazards and vulnerabilities and identify resilient solutions.

Increased development and the historic construction of a dam on Sunken Meadow Creek in the 1950’s led to reduced tidal exchange, increased water levels in the creek, poor water quality, and the proliferation of invasive species. In 2008 a number of partners (NYS OPRHP, NOAA, NYSDEC, LISS, TNC, Save the Sound, USFWS, LI Botanical Society) came together to work to restore the degraded marsh habitat around Sunken Meadow Creek, increase tidal flow, improve aquatic organism passage, limit invasives, and improve water quality. A restoration feasibility study was completed in 2010. In 2012 Superstorm Sandy blew out the dam on Sunken Meadow Creek, naturally kick-starting restoration. Following Superstorm Sandy, the project partners were able to quickly capitalize on available funding and grants, due to their prior planning efforts. A bridge was built across the Creek where the dam blew out, salt marsh habitat was restored at three locations, green infrastructure was installed in one of the parking areas to capture and treat stormwater runoff, fish passage feasibility on the creek was investigated, and education and outreach was conducted to thousands of people. These projects were completed in 2019. Now, with funding through Long Island Sound Futures Fund, Audubon NY is leading a large-scale marsh restoration project at Sunken Meadow Creek to restore important high-marsh habitat for at risk species, like the Saltmarsh Sparrow, and to increase the resilience of the marsh in the face of rising sea levels. Audubon will be working to finalize the designs and secure permits over the next two years, with on-the-ground restoration expected in 2026.

The City of New Haven has installed 286 right-of-way bioswales throughout the city as part of a multifaceted approach to reducing flooding in the downtown area. Right-of-way bioswales are engineered planted areas that are located on sidewalks. They are designed to capture and infiltrate stormwater into the ground that would otherwise directly enter a storm drain. These bioswales were installed as the result of various partnerships and funding opportunities related to flood prevention, localized drainage solutions, combined sewer overflow mitigation, research, and traffic calming projects.

Project Lead

City of New Haven, Dept of Engineering

Project Partners

Urban Resources Initiative, EMERGE Inc., Save the Sound, Yale School of the Environment, and Quinnipiac University, among others.

In 2019, the City of Norwalk secured a LIS Future Fund grant to install green infrastructure in the Webster Street Parking to reduce the impacts of stormwater on the Norwalk River and Harbor and mitigate local flooding of surrounding businesses through the installation of four different types of infiltration and bio-retention structures:
1) Underground infiltration systems.
2) Retention basins and curb inlet planters in eight different areas.
3) Porous pavement with storage in two areas.
4) Infiltration gutters and tree filters in two other areas.

Friends of the Bay installed two raingardens at the Western Waterfront, which was done in October 2021 with the help of volunteers.

The Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee and Village of Sea Cliff completed subwatershed improvements at Scudders Pond to address stormwater drainage problems impacting the water quality of the pond and Hempstead Harbor, highlighted as a priority in the 1998 Hempstead Harbor Water Quality Improvement Plan. The improvements included dredging the pond, installing a hydrodynamic separator to intercept sediment, removing invasive Phragmites australis and replacing with native plants, realigning the stream to reduce erosion, redirecting the stormwater from residences to the bioswale, creation of a biofilter wetland area, replacement of the weir between the upper and lower ponds and weir at Shore Road.