BOSTON — The Hoosic River Revival received a $12,000 state grant to go towards their Flood Chute Naturalization project in North Adams.

 

The Baker-Polito Administration Monday announced $831,000 in state and federal grant funds to support two Priority Ecological Restoration Projects, one of which is in North Adams.

 

"Our Administration is proud to support projects that work to implement nature-based solutions to some of the pressing issues that our communities are facing," Governor Charlie Baker said. "Dam removals, culvert replacements, and other similar work address our aging infrastructure and increase resilience to climate change, improve public safety, and restore important habitats for a variety of wildlife."

 

The City of North Adams, Hoosic River Revival, Hoosic River Watershed Association, and state and federal agencies are working together to re-naturalize and revitalize the north and south branches of the Hoosic River as they flow through North Adams. 

 

"It is a favorite sight to see dozens of residents kayaking and canoeing along lakes throughout the Berkshires and Western Mass and appreciating our abundance of natural resources," State Senator Adam Hinds said. "Investment in projects such as this that preserve the environment and protect our natural resources is necessary to mitigate the impact of climate change."

 

The project will improve public safety and reduce annual operating and maintenance costs, while also improving habitat, access, connectivity, and climate resilience. This phase of the project includes the design and permitting of a flood management system within North Adams to replace the existing 2.5-mile aging and deteriorating concrete chute system.

 

"This funding is a significant step in allowing the City of North Adams and the Hoosic River Revival to continue their efforts to address the issue of how best to deal with the City's deteriorating flood control chutes," State Representative John Barrett III said.

 

The Childs River Restoration project in Falmouth and Mashpee was the second project to receive grant funds. This project received $819,000.

 

According to a press release, the two projects will help local partners remove aging dams, rejuvenate historic wetlands on retired cranberry bogs, replace undersized and failing culverts, restore streamflow, and floodplain habitat, and revitalize urban rivers.

 

The Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game's Division of Ecological Restoration brings together federal, state, and local agencies and organizations to plan, fund, and implement projects that restore rivers and wetlands while also helping communities adapt to climate change. The Priority Projects Program is one of the vehicles by which DER pursues wetland and river restoration, urban river revitalization, and streamflow restoration projects that present the greatest benefit to the Commonwealth ecologically, socially, and economically.

 

Of the total funds awarded, $819,000 are federal grant funds awarded to DER through the United States Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program. A further $12,000 comes from state capital funds.