Community Resilience Program

Flooding at the city dock downtown Annapolis.The damages and impacts resulting from flood events present a substantial threat to communities, infrastructure and natural resources throughout the state. Since 2007, Maryland has experienced four hurricane and flood events warranting Presidential Disaster Declarations, resulting in more than $95 million in federal public assistance. The Community Resilience Program supports actions that can be taken before a flood event to reduce the risk to life, property, and natural resources. The program’s funds are used for projects that seek to achieve this reduced risk in whatever manner is most feasible for the local community. Ideal projects foster innovative adaptation strategies that ensure that Maryland communities are increasingly resilient to flood risks, work to ascertain that Bay and ocean waters meet living resource and human needs, and serve to enhance the protection and management of the state’s resources. Projects should also help communities more clearly communicate the risks associated with hazards in order to better protect citizens, infrastructure, and natural resources.

Maryland's Community Resilience Program leverages state and federal funding to promote and support comprehensive and holistic projects that address both water quality and quantity through a watershed-scale planning approach. More information about the funding that supports this program can be found below:

CoastSmart Communities is supported by funding from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and helps local communities understand and plan for coastal impacts, such as storm surge, shoreline erosion, sea level rise, and nuisance flooding

Green Infrastructure Resilience is supported by funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and helps local communities understand and plan for stormwater and riparian flooding hazards

Resiliency through Restoration Initiative is supported by state capital funds and helps local communities design and implement natural and nature-based resilience projects

These three separate funding sources are managed cohesively to help local communities become more resilient to flooding hazards, from initial risk assessments through on-the-ground restoration. This program supports work in three phases:

Understand, Plan, or Implement. Each phase reflects where a local community may be in preparedness, andis meant to build upon complementary tasks such as community engagement. More information about these three phases is provided below:

Understand

These projects help local governments bring together existing resources and data (such as hazard mitigation plans and Flood Insurance Rate Maps) to develop a holistic understanding of what is at risk (built and natural infrastructure) to tidal, stormwater or riparian flooding.

Plan

These projects help local governments that have quantified and understand their vulnerability and risk to develop higher regulatory standards and/or risk-reduction strategies. Planning projects use data from vulnerability assessments and other existing resources to either research and evaluate current planning processes for how and where to integrate hazard planning strategies or move forward with updating and adopting updated planning processes.

Implement

These projects help local governments and non-profit organizations design and permit a resilience project that addresses coastal hazards, stormwater hazards, and/or floodplain management needs. Funding will only be used to support natural and nature-based resilience projects (i.e. green infrastructure); gray infrastructure (such as bulkheads, conventional stormwater system upgrades and sea walls) will not be funded. CCS can work with interested partners to define and identify potential green infrastructure projects that will increase their resilience to specific climate hazards. Once a project is designed and permitted, CCS will work with the partners to fund the construction of the project, but construction funding is not guaranteed. Partners cannot propose construction projects without first receiving funding for design and permitting through this grant program.

Projects to be funded through the Community Resilience Program are solicited annually through the Chesapeake and Coastal Grants Gateway. Please see outcomes 2, and 3 for more information.