The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced that the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) awarded a $976,270 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant to the City of Watertown for Phase 2 of the Equity-Based Community Greening Program, which seeks to address the outsize risks posed by climate change to vulnerable populations by targeting green infrastructure investments in Watertown’s most at-risk neighborhoods.
The MVP Action Grant program offers financial resources to communities that are seeking to advance priority climate adaptation actions to address climate change impacts resulting from extreme weather, sea level rise, inland and coastal flooding, severe heat, and other climate impacts. This cycle EEA awarded a total of $52 million to awardees across the Commonwealth for 71 projects, including 62 for municipalities, seven for regional planning agencies, and two for
tribes.
Watertown’s awarded project is a continuation of Phase 1 of the Community Greening Program, which launched in 2021 thanks to a previous MVP Action Grant award. The Program’s goal is to use nature-based solutions to create climate resilient neighborhoods and actively engage residents in the process.
The Program directly addresses three of the major impacts that Watertown faces from climate change: extreme storms, urban flooding, and extreme heat. By adding green stormwater infrastructure such as vegetated bump-outs and street trees to neighborhood streets in key areas of Watertown and conducting meaningful outreach to local residents, Watertown continues to enhance the physical and social resilience of its neighborhoods. This is a two-year grant award, with kickoff anticipated fall 2024 and completion of Phase 2 by June 30, 2026.
“Just like many other Greater Boston communities, Watertown’s more vulnerable residents unfortunately live in those neighborhoods with the most pavement and fewest trees,” said Steve Magoon, Assistant City Manager for Community Development and Planning. “This grant will allow us to continue to transform neighborhood streets using green infrastructure where people need it the most.”
While we have been the beneficiary of three beautiful Yoshino cherry trees in the planting strip in front of our house—and grateful for them—so many places in Watertown could also use them, and more. Parts of town are over-paved, stretches of empty space capped by blacktop, not planted with trees and shrubs. These “heat islands” are lifeless urban deserts that could be turned into oases in a day after a morning of jackhammering and an afternoon of planting. Some are on private or commercial property, some on derelict town property, but all should be eligible for conversion from asphalt jungle to pocket rainforest. Some “solutions” for climate change are intrusive and counterproductive. Greening the community is a win for the citizen and for the town.