State and Local Governments Use Innovative Financing to Build Disaster Resilience
With investments in planning and projects, communities are countering flooding, wildfire, and other disaster threats
Rising costs and threats from extreme weather in the U.S. have prompted historic government investments in hazard mitigation and disaster resilience—including more than $50 billion cumulatively from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
However, it’s unclear whether federal funding for resilience will be sustained at similar levels in the future. Faced with the combination of uncertain funding and rising disaster expenses, state, county, and city governments are taking the initiative—and getting creative—to invest in resilience and risk mitigation. And, based on election results in November, voters are on board, passing ballot initiatives to create or expand resilience funding at the state level in California and Louisiana; the county level in Harris County, Texas, home to Houston; and citywide in Honolulu.
Against the backdrop of these successful ballot initiatives, members of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ State Resilience Planning Group (SRPG) gathered virtually in November to learn about innovative local approaches—from the Rocky Mountains to the mid-Atlantic—to finance community resilience projects.
A Colorado county uses voter-backed sales tax to fund implementation of risk management plan
In 2016, Chaffee County, about 100 miles west of Colorado Springs, faced rapid growth in population, tourism, traffic, housing prices, and wildfire risk. This prompted county commissioners to convene Envision Chaffee County, an initiative to manage the growth and associated risks. At the SRPG meeting, Envision Chaffee County co-lead Cindy Williams shared how the organization engaged ranchers and farmers, business owners, economic development advocates, environmentalists, and other community members to develop the Envision Community Action Plan.
The county is funding implementation of the plan with a 0.25% sales tax increase that voters approved in 2018, which so far has generated $9 million in revenue and $36 million in matching funds from the federal and state governments and other sources.
Envision Chaffee County also implements the Chaffee County Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which has mitigated wildfire risk on more than 10,000 acres of public and private forests through practices such as thinning trees and prescribed burns. “It’s not just about the money,” said Williams. “It’s about getting really effective work done on the ground.”
State-created nonprofit takes the lead in a coastal Maryland county
The 500 miles of coastline in Anne Arundel County, including the state capital Annapolis, are a natural asset as well as risk to communities because of sea-level rise, nuisance flooding, and coastal storms. To help manage these risks at the local level, the Maryland General Assembly passed legislation in 2020 enabling the creation of local resilience authorities: nonprofit organizations that can finance and contract resilience projects.
That led to the 2021 formation of the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, the first multijurisdictional authority in the country to take a regional, innovative, and long-term approach to investing in resilience projects that also provide significant environmental and economic benefits. Matt Fleming, executive director of the Resilience Authority, told the SRPG meeting attendees that, to date, the authority has secured $43 million of outside funding for resilience projects and completed about $9 million in climate infrastructure projects.
The authority attracts and strategically applies federal, state, and private funding to quickly develop and implement projects. One example is the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Jabez Branch flood plain restoration project, funded by the authority and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, to address significant pollution and erosion in and around a waterway that eventually feeds into the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay. The project included expanding the surrounding wetland and engineering the streambed to slow water flow and allow floodwaters to spread into the flood plain during severe storms.
Commonwealth of Virginia uses loans and grants to incentivize local action
The Resilient Virginia Revolving Loan Fund, which the state established in 2022, invests in local and regional resilience loan programs to support risk mitigation projects for individual buildings.
Matthew Wells, director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, explained that the first funding round in 2023 focused on helping local governments meet requirements to unlock federal or state matching funds and support risk mitigation projects to buildings on private property. This includes projects such as elevating structures to minimize flood risk and voluntary buyouts—in which residents sell their flood-prone properties to the state or local government and relocate to areas with lower flood risk. Operating alongside the state’s Community Flood Preparedness Fund, which supports community-scale flood resilience through local planning and larger infrastructure projects, the revolving fund offers a model for other states seeking to expand their resilience financing toolbox beyond grant support and to spur resilience action on individual properties.
“We essentially have designed these two funds to offer a holistic approach for local governments,” said Wells. “The state will help fund flood resilience studies, the development of a resilience plan, and build capacity—including by hiring staff.”
State and local projects can inspire resilience investments elsewhere
State and local governments must work together to plan for an uncertain climate future and to invest in proven solutions that limit climate and weather risks while providing the greatest possible benefits for communities and sensitive ecosystems. Other states and localities could help their residents—and nature—by following the examples from Colorado, Maryland, and Virginia.
Coupled with forward-looking resilience plans, local funding sources and creative financing give communities a greater say in how projects are developed, prioritized, and implemented and can help speed project timelines. As Cindy Williams from Envision Chaffee County says, “Having those plans in place and connecting the funding to them has been the key to success.”
Kristiane Huber works on climate resilience and nature-based climate solutions with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ U.S. conservation project.
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