A Wilmington flood mitigation project gets some national attention.
Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley and Deputy Assistant to the President David Agnew visited the city’s Southbridge neighborhood to hear about the plan to address chronic flooding there.
The over $5 million dollar project, which has been in the works for some time, will restore 22-acres of wetlands adjacent to Southbridge’s residential area to stem decades long flooding issues.
It will also turn the wetlands into a community park and provide a direct walking route from Southbridge’s residential area to businesses on Route 13.
DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara appreciates the attention President Obama’s top environmental advisors are paying to this effort.
“It signals that we are on the right path," said O'Mara. "Even though we still struggle with storms and we still have a lot of folks that are at risk during these different types of events, that we are making the right investments, that Delaware is really becoming a national model and that we still have a lot of work to do but that folks in D.C. are paying attention to what happens here in little Delaware and trying to replicate that across the country.”
O’Mara also pointed out that most of the funding for this project came from efficient use of federal, state, and city resources.
"Between the federal partners and the state dollars and leveraging federal dollars, we are able to put a project on the ground that effects real people."
The visit comes a little over a month after Governor Markell signed Executive Order 41 which requires all state agencies to find new ways to adapt to more extensive storms.
Markell said that as one of the lowest lying states in the country, Delaware will be facing flood and sea level rise challenges for many years to come.
“But what that means is that we have to be an administration right now that future generations can look back on and say at least they were willing to step up," said Markell. "I believe that natural infrastructure projects like this one in Southbridge will help us accomplish that. We should aspire to nothing less than being the most resilient state in the country."
Last week, Governor Markell was one of eight Governors appointed by President Obama to the Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience that advises the president on how the Federal Government can respond to the needs of communities dealing with impacts of climate change.