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Aquidneck Land Trust has been awarded nearly $2 million from NOAA’s Climate Resilience Regional Challenge, a competitive grant program administered by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. The project, Growing Regional Resilience Coordination on Aquidneck Island, was developed in close collaboration with the municipalities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth, as well as Naval Station Newport. NOAA received nearly 870 letters of intent for this program, and of those, 120 were invited to submit full proposals. The Aquidneck Island project will be receiving funding as one of just 19 awards across the country. The funding opportunity focuses on collaborative projects that increase the resilience of coastal communities to extreme weather and other climate change impacts, with a strong emphasis on risk reduction, equity and inclusion, regional coordination, and enduring capacity.

Aquidneck Land Trust Executive Director, Terry Sullivan, says, “The Land Trust is proud to partner with Middletown, Portsmouth, and Newport, as well as the Navy, in service of helping our Island become more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate. We are particularly hopeful that this grant will help further projects that protect and restore our Island’s critical water resources. It has become clear that we must do more to protect these water bodies from stormwater pollution, especially during the big storms that we have been seeing more frequently.”

“This project is a huge opportunity to address the growing climate issues we face as one island community,” said Paige Myatt, Project Director for the award. “Over the past two years in my previous role as the Aquidneck Island Regional Resilience Coordinator, we were able to show that working together as an Island, across topics ranging from flooding, to transportation, to emergency management, and beyond, is a necessity. We realize that the capacity to tackle these challenges needs to be multiplied. There is a lot of momentum to maintain, and this project allows us to grow this work in a meaningful way.”

The Island’s three municipal planning departments, as core partners in this effort, are looking forward to the opportunity to continue collaborative resilience work.

Ron Wolanski, Director of Planning and Economic Development for the Town of Middletown, states, “The Town of Middletown is excited to continue working with our regional partners toward creating a more resilient community, building upon progress made over the past two years. This project will ensure that efforts to address and adapt to the impacts of climate change on Aquidneck Island will continue.”

“As a coastal community, the City of Newport is acutely aware of the increasing effects of climate change and is looking forward to this unique and collaborative effort,” said Patricia Reynolds, Director of Planning and Economic Development for the City of Newport. “Working together, we can address projects that will benefit not only our island communities and the Naval Station, but also the many visitors that enjoy the Island’s scenic and natural beauty, setting an important example for how similar places can tackle these common challenges.”

Lea Hitchen, Town Planner in Portsmouth says, “The climate crisis does not respect municipal boundaries, and work in this area must be grounded in shared values and cooperation. This project is centered around bringing together residents and organizations of Aquidneck Island to address some of the most pressing issues of our region, including climate resilience, water quality, housing, and transportation. We are all in this together.”

Additionally, Naval Station Newport’s Community Planning Liaison Officer, Cornelia Mueller, says, “The Navy has recognized the security threat that climate change poses to its military installations around the world. Naval Station Newport is thrilled to be a part of this unprecedented opportunity that will benefit our coastal community partners here on Aquidneck Island. As the fourth community on the Island, Naval Station stands ready to support efforts to implement transformative, resilience-building projects that will, no doubt, enhance the military mission now and into the future.”

Funding is for four years, slated to begin in October 2024. The Land Trust, as the host organization, will hire new staff dedicated to this project. The effort will add much needed capacity to effectively coordinate and grow regional climate resilience work, focusing on project implementation while engaging and educating the community on the Island’s greatest challenges.