Town of Bridgewater Receives $2.2 Million in Federal Grant Funding for Local Conservation Efforts 

BRIDGEWATER — Town Manager Michael Dutton and Community & Economic Development Director Jennifer DeBoisbriand are pleased to announce that the Town of Bridgewater has received a $2.2 million grant to support restoration and conservation efforts in town.

On Thursday, Nov. 18, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced $39.5 million in new grants from the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) that will support coastal resilience projects in 28 states and U.S. territories. 

Of the grants announced, the Town of Bridgewater will receive $2,285,000 for the “Restoration and Enhancement of Coastal Resiliency of the Town River.” The project will work to remove an obsolete dam and replace an undersized, aging road-stream crossing that are barriers to aquatic organism passage in the watershed of the federally declared Wild and Scenic Taunton River. The project will restore access between the Atlantic Ocean to the Hockomock Swamp and will increase community resilience by removing hazardous flood conditions caused by these structures.

The NCRF increases and strengthens natural infrastructure to protect coastal communities while also enhancing habitats for fish and wildlife. Established in 2018, the NCRF invests in conservation projects that restore or expand natural features such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, forests, coastal rivers and floodplains, and barrier islands that minimize the impacts of storms and other naturally occurring events on nearby communities. 

“We are extremely grateful to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for this generous grant to help us preserve the Town River area,” Town Manager Dutton said. “Revitalizing this area of town is an important priority and these funds will go a long way in helping us do that, not only for the benefit of the natural environment but also for the safety of our residents.”

NFWF, in partnership with NOAA and joined initially by Shell and TransRe, launched the NCRF in 2018 to support on-the-ground projects that engage communities and reduce their vulnerability to growing risks from coastal storms, sea-level rise, flooding, erosion and extreme weather through strengthening natural ecosystems that also benefit fish and wildlife. 

NCRF supports projects that restore or enhance natural infrastructure in ways that benefit both wildlife populations and coastal communities. By investing in these nature-based solutions to increasing environmental stressors, the NCRF seeks to increase the resilience of both human and wildlife communities to coastal flooding events. While the NCRF prioritizes direct restoration projects to increase natural infrastructure function, the projects supported by the 49 grants span activities from community engagement in planning and prioritization to building capacity for coastal engineering and design development to help communities understand their best options. 

A complete list of the 2021 grant awardees can be found here. A short video about the National Coastal Resilience Fund can be viewed here.

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