Feds Allot $750K For Mystic, Charles Rivers Flood Prevention

ARLINGTON, MA — The federal budget for Fiscal Year 2022 includes $750,000 to study flood resiliency along the Mystic and Charles Rivers.

The funding, secured by Congresswoman Katherine Clark, will be used for analysis, planning and sequencing for a coordinated set of coastal resilience strategies and interventions aimed at reducing the risk of flooding in Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford and Revere.

"Climate change is here, which means we need to make investments now to prevent disasters later. Communities along the Mystic River are particularly vulnerable to coastal flooding – especially neighborhoods often overlooked and overburdened by environmental injustice," Clark said. "I am immensely proud to have secured this funding to help take the necessary steps to prevent and mitigate flooding while strengthening our climate resiliency for the families in the Fifth District and beyond."

Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn said the initiative, known as the Charles & Mystic River Regional Coastal Flood Interventions Project, will help prevent flooding impacts in 25 percent of her city in the next 10-20 years.

"With this important funding, we will be able to greatly advance our regional planning and design to prevent future catastrophic flooding within our communities," Lungo-Koehn said.

The project is one of 10 across the Fifth District for which Clark secured funding in the federal budget. President Biden signed the budget into law on March 15.