New State Fund Will Protect Rhode Island’s Coast from Climate Change

Pontiac Mills in Warwick as seen from across the flooded Pawtuxet River in December 2023. (Photography by Wolf Matthewson)

Governor Dan McKee and state agencies announced this week that $4 million in state grants have been made available for public projects that protect or enhance coastal and riverine habitats from the effects of climate change.

The funds are part of the Ocean State Climate Adaptation and Resilience fund program, a new grant source established in 2021 by the General Assembly. Public agencies have until Friday, May 17, to submit applications for projects that protect or adapt coastal habitat, including those that provide public access to shorelines and riverbanks.

“Rhode Island is a leader in climate change action through our work to increase clean energy and energy efficiency, grow the clean energy economy, increase the number of electric vehicles on our roadways, protect land and support climate change resiliency projects in local communities, which the OSCAR grant program will help fund,” says McKee. “Together we are taking collective action to protect both our communities and environment from the negative impacts of climate change so that we have a resilient Ocean State for future generations.”

The new fund is the latest in a series of efforts to protect Rhode Island from the threat posed by climate change. In a March 2024 feature, Rhode Island Monthly detailed the growing concerns over repeat flooding as a result of heavy rainfall, a weather pattern experts say is due in part to the increasing air and water temperatures in the region. In the past year, three separate rain events have been declared eligible for federal disaster assistance in parts of Rhode Island, including the Dec. 17–19 storm that caused the Pawtuxet River to rise to its second-highest level ever recorded, behind only the historic flood of 2010.

“Increased precipitation and the resulting flooding from that is definitely one of — if not the biggest — hazard that we’re seeing across the state, coastally and inland,” Kim Koriath, chief resilience officer for the state, told Rhode Island Monthly for the feature.

“Municipalities know what they need to do. They know where the concerns are, [and] they’re ready to tackle them. It’s just having the backing to be able to do it,” she adds.

In January, McKee and the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank announced $12 million in action grants for the Municipal Resilience Program, a separate fund designed to help municipalities enhance their climate resilience. According to Koriath, the program received $52 million in funding requests in 2023, many of those requests for projects to address flooding.

Also this week, Rhode Island’s congressional delegation announced $54.7 million in federal grants for transportation and climate resilience projects, including more than $11 million to repair two sections of the Newport Cliff Walk that collapsed in 2022. Combined with $2.75 million in money from the city, the funding should be enough to cover the total cost of the project, Rhode Island Current reports.

Also included in the federal funds is $26 million for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to manage stormwater drainage and reduce roadway flooding at ninety-seven locations around the state. RIDOT will also receive $750,000 to development a coastal management plan to address roadway resurfacing alternatives along Route 136 as a result of Warren’s “Market to Metacom” relocation plan.

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