With climate change our new reality, it’s time to invest in a more resilient Rhody

During a one-month stretch in January 2024, Rhode Island was hammered by several severe rainstorms, with communities across the state experiencing 3-5 inches of rain in a very short time. According to the National Weather Service, these storms combined to bring that month’s rainfall total to 300 percent above normal levels. These storms wreaked havoc in many communities, with homes, roads, and businesses flooded due to stormwater infrastructure unable to keep up with near record volumes of rain.

Due to the impacts of climate change, this is the new reality our cities and towns are facing with more frequent and severe rain, coastal flooding, and coastal erosion events – a new normal that we must prepare for.

As we celebrate National Infrastructure Week, it is critical that Rhode Island continue our national leadership in the area of investing in the resilient infrastructure solutions our communities need to address these types of severe weather events.

Thanks to the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank’s Municipal Resilience Program, all 39 of our cities and towns have enrolled in a workshop process designed to identify infrastructure at risk and develop plans for solutions.

Using funding from recent voter-approved Green Bonds, the Bank has awarded $24 million in action grants to 31 municipalities to implement resilience projects. These projects include upgrading stormwater infrastructure in Johnston, installing a new coastal buffer at Warwick’s Oakland Beach, pump station improvements in Westerly, and removing impervious pavement in Woonsocket to create a green new public park for city residents while reducing stormwater runoff into the Blackstone River.

These are all excellent investments, but the reality is the demand for limited resilience grant funding has greatly exceeded available resources. Indeed, the Infrastructure Bank typically receives funding requests from our cities and towns that are double and triple what is available through Municipal Resilience Program Action Grants.

This is why we have introduced legislation at the General Assembly to create the Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund, a smart solution that will create a dedicated source of reliable funding for municipalities to invest in resilient infrastructure projects including stormwater improvements, floodproofing, watershed restoration, urban tree planting, and coastal resilience measures.

The fund would work by creating a revolving source of low-interest loan financing for municipal resilience projects, similar to Rhode Island’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund programs that have been successfully providing low-cost infrastructure financing for decades.

Resilient Rhody Infrastructure Fund legislation is enabling only. Seed funding for the program would come from existing infrastructure bank assets that would be directed to adaptation projects which yield a high return on investment.

Not only are resilient infrastructure improvements important to the basic functioning of our communities, they are also an excellent investment. According to a recent research report by J.P. Morgan, the return on investment for climate adaptation and resilience projects range from $2 to $43 for every dollar spent.

The time has come to move beyond planning for extreme weather events and to dedicate resources toward solutions. Our state has made real progress upgrading infrastructure to make it more resilient to the impacts of climate change, and now is the time to create a reliable, long-term source of funding so our cities and towns can build a Resilient Rhody.

James Diossa is Rhode Island’s General Treasurer, Vahid Ownjazayeri is chair of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank’s Board of Directors, and William Fazioli is the executive director of the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank.