March 2025

The Resilience Roundup highlights announcements and events along with links to the previous month's state, regional, and national resilience news. 

Learn more about CIRCA at circa.uconn.edu

and the Resilient Connecticut Project at resilientconnecticut.uconn.edu

Resilient Connecticut Phase III Update

Phase III of Resilient Connecticut focuses on community and site scale resilience planning and the development of adaptation strategies and pilot projects. These projects are located in areas that were identified as having vulnerability to climate impacts (during Phase II), where there are opportunities to take action and improve resilience for communities. The CIRCA Team has been working on site -specific projects in Portland, Mystic/Stonington, Norwich, East Haddam, Jewett City, Newington and East Hartford. Check out updates from some of these project locations below.

Resilient Portland (Complete): This project focuses on alleviating flooding impacts to Portland's critical facilities including the senior center parking lot, police department parking lot, and library parking lot. The final report is available here. 

Resilient Mystic (Underway): This project focuses on coastal flooding in Downtown Mystic in Stonington.  A three-day intensive workshop was held from Feb 24^th – 26^th to engage the community and develop concept designs. Check out this Storymap for more information.

Resilient Yantic (Underway): This project focuses on identifying and implementing flood risk mitigation strategies in three key target areas along the Yantic River including: Upstream Flood Compensatory Storage, Town Street Commercial Corridor, and Backus Hospital to Upper Falls Dam River Corridor. Check out this Storymap and this Video for more information. 



Resilient East Haddam (Nearly Complete): This project has identified concept designs to alleviate flooding along Succor Brook that impacts residential properties, facilities owned by the Goodspeed Opera House, and the town’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. Check out these materials from the public workshops to see the latest updates on the project. 

Stay tuned for updates from the other site-specific projects as those develop. 

Case Studies in Flood Mitigation and Adaptation:

Resilient Connecticut Projects in

East Haddam & Mystic Webinar

April 8, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00p.m.

Communities across Connecticut are facing uncertainty when it comes to understanding and managing current and future flood risks. Join us for a webinar highlighting two case study projects currently underway in East Haddam and Stonington Mystic, CT as part of the Resilient Connecticut planning and technical assistance program. This webinar will feature the following:

Resilient Connecticut Program Overview Presentation - John Truscinski, Director of Resilience Planning at CIRCA

Resilient East Haddam Presentation – Neil Kulikauskas and Dan Pasquale, Kleinfelder

Resilient Stonington Mystic Presentation - Beth Kirmmse and Erik Mas, Fuss and O’Neill

The webinar will feature representatives from each municipality and project team to share their experiences collaborating to develop priority actions and implementable projects to improve resiliency. This webinar is an opportunity to learn about innovative flood mitigation strategies and explore lessons that can be applied to other Connecticut communities. Attendees will be eligible to receive CFM continuing education credits.

Planning for a Network of Resilience Hubs in Connecticut Workshop

April 30th, 10:00 a.m. - 3:00p.m.

Swift Factory, 10 Love Lane, Hartford

Join us for an upcoming workshop on resilience hubs, hosted by CIRCA and funded by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP). This workshop will explore how community-centered facilities can serve as trusted spaces to enhance local resilience, providing essential services during blue-sky days and support during climate-related events. Learn from experts and engage in discussions on how resilience hubs can strengthen our communities and state. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation. For more information on the agenda and to register, click the below button.

Grants

DEEP: Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Community Resource Hub Service Providers

Application Deadline: March 12, 2025

DEEP has released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) seeking proposals from qualified organizations to serve as DEEP Community Resource Hubs (Hubs) in environmental justice communities (EJ) throughout Connecticut. The Hubs will facilitate communication, education, and outreach, and offer essential resources, including equipment and technical assistance, to empower residents in environmental and energy initiatives. 

Energize CT: Community Partnership Initiative – Round 3 Applications Open

Application Deadline: Friday, March 14, 2025

The Community Partnership Initiative provides funding to local organizations, nonprofits, and environmental justice municipalities to expand energy efficiency outreach. This initiative supports Home Energy Solutions – Income Eligible, heat pump adoption, Small Business Energy Advantage, and the Multifamily Initiative.

Eligible applicants include groups serving distressed municipalities, residents with limited English proficiency, income-eligible renters and homeowners, multifamily property owners, and small businesses. Applications should outline proposed 2025 outreach campaigns to drive participation in energy efficiency programs.

FEMA Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Program



Application Deadline: March 14th, 2024, 3 pm

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program supports states, local and territorial governments and Tribal Nations as they work to reduce their hazard risk.

The program aims to support communities as they build capability and capacity. BRIC also encourages and aids innovation. It helps partnerships grow; supports infrastructure projects; and fosters flexibility and consistency.

NOAA Opens $100 Million Grant for Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience

Applications Deadline: April 16, 2025, at 11:59 PM ET

NOAA is now accepting applications for the Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This program provides $100 million to support projects that restore marine, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems while improving community resilience to climate hazards like storms, flooding, and erosion. Of the total funding, $15 million is reserved for Tribal organizations. Awards will range from $750,000 to $10 million. Eligible projects should align with resilience or watershed plans, rebuild sustainable fisheries, restore habitats for endangered species, and engage tribal, indigenous, and underserved communities as active stewards of natural resources. The program also prioritizes initiatives that foster economic vitality, provide co-benefits like public access and revitalization, and ensure benefits flow to disadvantaged communities, in line with the Justice40 Initiative.

FEMA: Flood Mitigation Assistance - Swift Current

Application Deadline: May 5, 2025

The Fiscal Year 2024 Swift Current program provides $500 million to mitigate NFIP-insured properties with repetitive or substantial flood damage after a major flood disaster declaration between June 1, 2024, and May 31, 2025. Eligible projects include property acquisition and demolition or relocation, structure elevations, dry floodproofing, retrofitting, mitigation reconstruction, and, new for FY24, Project Scoping (up to 1% of the state set-aside or 5% for tribes/territories). Applications must be submitted through FEMA Grants Outcomes (FEMA GO). The eligibility period starts 60 days after a disaster declaration, with funding available on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted. Local governments submit subapplications on behalf of property owners to their state, tribe, or territory, while tribes applying directly submit to FEMA. Pre-application support is available for project development, cost estimates, Benefit-Cost Analysis, and environmental review. For assistance, contact the FEMA GO Help Desk at 877-585-3242.

Events

41st Annual Connecticut Land Conservation Conference

March 22, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Wesleyan University

45 WYLLYS AVE, MIDDLETOWN, CT 06459

The Connecticut Land Conservation Conference is Connecticut's premier gathering for land conservation enthusiasts, boasting a vibrant mix of nearly 600 attendees. This unique event stands out for its dynamic blend of training, networking, and information-sharing designed for land trusts, conservation groups, and those interested in land conservation across Connecticut.

Join a broad spectrum of attendees representing municipal land use commissions, state agencies, private groups with conservation missions including enthusiasts from garden clubs and various grassroots-level land conservation advocates, students, and more!

Webinar: Piloting the MyCoast Tool in

New London, Groton, and Stonington

April 10, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

This virtual gathering will include a description of the new MyCoast project recently funded through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF) and focusing on the CT communities of Stonington, Groton, and New London. During this webinar, you’ll learn about MyCoast and how it can help address flooding in your community and understand next steps for this project and how you can participate.

NOAA Digital Coast - Sea Level Calculator

The NOAA Sea Level Tool provides location-specific scenarios for sea level rise and flooding, along with information on past and present conditions. Local governments and practitioners can use the tool to support strategic adaptation planning and investments. The tool offers data, maps, and visualizations, and generates automated reports tailored to specific locations. Users can explore sea level change scenarios, visualize potential impacts, review water level and flood frequency trends, see the top 10 flood events for their area, and identify the times of year their community is most likely to experience flooding.

CT Plan Centers Climate Change in Conservation, Development

February 7, 2025 - CT Mirror

Over the next five years, as Connecticut officials think broadly about where and how they want to develop housing, encourage economic development and preserve open space, they’ll put climate change at the center of those conversations.

That’s according to the latest draft of the Plan of Conservation and Development, which the Continuing Legislative Committee on State Planning and Development passed with overwhelming support 

UN Climate Weeks to Restart With New Focus on Fast-Tracking Negotiations

Climate Home News - February 19, 2025

From now on, the UNFCCC will organise two “Climate Weeks” a year, with a new format more closely focused on turbo-charging talks on key issues including climate finance, the “just transition” away from fossil fuels and the development of carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.The events aim to assemble government negotiators, technical experts and representatives from civil society and business with the goal of building political momentum and accelerating progress ahead of the year’s main negotiating sessions usually held in Bonn in June and the headline COPs in November.