MA Climate Risk: State 'ResilientCoasts' Plan Aims To Protect North Shore Communities

SALEM, MA — A new state ResilientCoasts Plan is designed to protect districts on the North Shore and South Shore most at risk amid rising sea levels and climate change.

Gov. Maura Healey said on Thursday that the goal of the plan is to help coastal communities protect residents, strengthen local infrastructure and safeguard the state's natural resources. Healey said the goal of the plan is to develop community-driven steps to prepare for future storms, flooding, sea level rise, and erosion — while saving billions through investments made before a crisis point.

"This plan is about helping people and local businesses stay safe and save money," Healey said. "When we invest in stronger roads, flood protections, and coastal restoration, we're not just preventing damage — we're protecting livelihoods."

The Healey-Driscoll Administration said that research shows that every $1 invested in resilience can yield about $13 in benefits and avoided recovery costs, and communities that delay action risk losing up to $33 in future economic activity for every dollar not invested.

"How to protect our homes, businesses, and working waterfronts was always top of mind during my time as (Salem) mayor," said Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll. "This plan takes that local perspective and turns it into real, actionable steps for every coastal community. It gives municipalities the support and guidance they need to strengthen their future."

The plan lays out the steps to protect people and property, strengthen infrastructure, and preserve natural buffers like dunes, wetlands, and salt marshes that reduce flood risks.

Healey said over the past two decades, Massachusetts has invested nearly $200 million in local resilience projects across 98 coastal communities.

"Our coastal communities can’t wait for the next big storm to act," said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. "This plan gives us the tools to be ready – to protect lives, homes, and local economies and to build the kind of resilience that will carry us through the next 50 years."

The plan identifies 15 Coastal Resilience Districts, grouping nearby cities and towns that share common characteristics like landform type, natural environment, built infrastructure, population and development character, and coastal risks.

Among the goals of the plan are to elevate roads and homes above expected flood levels, relocating people and housing to safer locations, flood-proofing infrastructure, restoring salt marshes, rebuilding healthy beaches, retrofitting seawalls and installing other flood-absorbing initiatives.

"Investments in resilience are investments in public safety, and they require collaboration between neighboring municipalities, across regions, and throughout the Commonwealth," Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said. "No one community can face this tide alone."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)