Groveland and West Newbury are each receiving money from the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program to address safeguards against flood threats from climate change.
An action grant of $143,666 was awarded to Groveland for “Continuation of Johnson Creek Watershed Flood Resiliency Project,” while West Newbury received $150,000 for “Evaluating Vulnerabilities and Options to Promote Resiliency: River Road and Environs.”
Gov. Maura Healey’s administration said Wednesday the money is part of $31.5 million in grants statewide for climate resilience implementation and planning. For the first time in the history of the program, two tribes are receiving funding since eligibility was expanded by the Legislature in 2022.
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper made the announcement in Stockbridge, the original homeland of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. In the 1800s, the tribe was pressured to leave their home, forcing them to eventually relocate to Wisconsin. The Tribe was awarded a $2.26 Action Grant to reclaim 351 acres of its indigenous homelands and establish tribally driven conservation and forest management strategies.
“The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans’ stewardship of lands is profoundly interwoven into their culture and reclaiming it will not only restore their relationship with the natural environment but also ensure ancestral-significant areas are preserved,” said Driscoll.
Grants to Groveland and West Newbury were among awards for 79 projects led by 56 different communities, 16 regional groups, two water districts, and one the tribe. Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Grant projects are focused on strategies to address climate change impacts and may include actions to invest in and protect environmental justice communities and improve public health, nature-based solutions to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat and flooding and climate resilience-focused regulatory updates.