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 fortribes. 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.