Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes talks about resilience grant funding in Oxford, CT on June 25, 2026. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
OXFORD, CT — More than a dozen municipalities and other organizations are in line to receive $5.1 million in state aid to protect homes, businesses and other community resources from floods, heat and other natural hazards.
In a media briefing Thursday at the Oxford Fire and EMS headquarters, steps from a pond that flooded and a bench commemorating two lives lost in the flood of August, 2024, Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes announced a new round of funding for the department’s Climate Resilience Fund. The fund supports projects that protect communities by providing grants for planning, design and matching funds for construction.
“As Connecticut faces another summer of potentially historic extreme weather, the importance of investing in proactive resilience measures is clearer than ever,” Dykes said. “With this next round of funding under an expanded program, we are excited to meet communities where they are, to help them identify their risks, and design and develop successful projects that can mitigate those risks.”
State Sen. Eric Berthel talks about resilience grant funding in Oxford, CT on June 25, 2026. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
State Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown, who represents Oxford, said he was proud to support resilience efforts.
“We do have an increase in storms and more violent weather, I think we can all agree that that is happening here,” he said. “And anything we can do to prevent the loss of life, of course, and also the incredible damage and interruption of life … that we can take action as a legislature and through our great agencies in the state, we should be doing.”
Several municipalities receiving matching funds are applying to funding programs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), including the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, a critical source of resilience funding for Connecticut, according to DEEP.
Under the first round of DCRF grants in 2023, DEEP awarded $8.8 million in planning and advancement grants supporting 21 innovative climate resilience plans and projects across 17 Connecticut municipalities and Councils of Government.
For questions about this program, email DEEP.climateresilience@ct.gov.
The grant recipients under this round of funding are:
Town of Groton – $250,000 to conduct a feasibility study for creating an energy resilience hub and “Cooler Neighborhood”, looking at opportunities involving the Groton Community Center and town-owned sites such as the library, senior center, and transit stops.
City of New Haven Parks Department – $250,000 to conduct a resilience action plan for Edgewood Park and surrounding neighborhoods, including the vulnerable Westville neighborhood, that will take full advantage of the park’s potential as natural infrastructure.
Jewett City and the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments – $237,044 to advance planning for a flood control project in Jewett City for the South Main Street Neighborhood, including open space design for stormwater storage.
South Central Regional Council of Governments – $250,000 to develop a framework that will allow municipalities to translate identified climate risks into implementable, equitable, and sustainable investment strategies, including an effort to map priority areas where flooding, extreme heat, and infrastructure vulnerability can be most effectively mitigated.
Western Connecticut Council of Governments – $246,457 to conduct a feasibility study of recurring finance mechanisms for resilience, including stormwater utilities and resilience improvement districts.
Norwich Public Utilities – $525,000 to finalize engineering plans and prepare bid documents to relocate the Shipping Street Pump Station out of the Thames River floodplain.
City of Waterbury – $644,456 to finalize engineering design and permitting of riverine and storm drainage system improvements to protect the community in the Clough Brook watershed.
Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments – $291,200 to finalize engineering designs to remove the Upper Falls Dam in Norwich to improve flood resilience, alleviate dam-related risks, and improve access to critical community lifelines.
Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments – $650,000 to finalize engineering designs for sites across the Naugatuck Valley that will address the most urgent flood control needs in the region, including protecting an emergency services center in Oxford, critical transportation routes in Seymour, and seven other municipal, residential, and commercial sites.
North Hartford Partnership – $337,197 to finalize design and permitting for a campus-scale community and energy resilience hub at the historic Swift Factory in Hartford’s North End.
Windham Water Works – $415,000 to finalize design and seek funding for climate-informed improvements to the Willimantic Dam, including flood-proofing the water intake and pump station, to protect the water supply of a rural community.
Town of Wolcott – $139,375 to, with federal assistance, implement hybrid nature-based solutions to address residential and road flooding near the Ransome Hall Road, building on NVCOG’s Regional Flood Resilience project.
Town of Wethersfield – $553,093 to finalize designs and apply for federal funds to begin construction on grey and green approaches to prevent recurring flooding that is impacting a stretch of the Silas Deane highway and nearby communities.
Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security – $375,000 to assist with anticipated federal funding for a precipitation monitoring network that will inform local flood models and increase flash flood warning time, reducing damage from floods and flood-related deaths and injuries.