St. Peter, Comfrey among towns getting climate resiliency planning grants - Mankato Free Press

St. Peter, Comfrey among towns getting climate resiliency planning grants | Local News | mankatofreepress.com

ST. PETER — In mid-May up to 9 inches of rain fell across Brown and Watonwan counties.

"It flooded to record levels," Comfrey Mayor Gary Richter said during an event Friday marking a state grant to the town of less than 400 people.

The $10,000 grant, from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and directed through the Region Nine Development Commission, will pay for the town to conduct a community resilience plan to identify and address how a changing climate is impacting the community.

"Small towns like Comfrey face special issues in dealing with infrastructure needs," Richter said at a press conference outside the St. Peter Community Center.

St. Peter also received a $57,000 MPCA grant that will allow it to study and quantify the flow of water, sediment and nutrients during increasingly high rainfall events. The city will look for ways to control and manage the excessive water flow to reduce nitrates that are being introduced into St. Peter's drinking water supply.

St. Peter Mayor Shanon Nowell said that as communities face more costs to deal with climate change issues, the support of state and federal agencies is necessary.

St. Peter has a 4,500-acre Drinking Water Supply Management Area west of town that provides water for its 12,848 residents and businesses.

"Communities cannot prepare for extreme weather events and climate change by themselves," said MPCA Commissioner Katrina Kessler. “Strong partnerships between government, businesses and residents are required to protect our communities.”

Nicole Griensewic, Region Nine Development Commission executive director, said her staff has been beefed up in order to assist communities in the nine-county region.

While this first round of small grants will help communities plan for what needs to be done, more grants are coming. The Legislature this year provided $100 million to the MPCA for climate resiliency grants.

"The grants aren't just for studies but for brick-and-mortar infrastructure work," Kessler said. "Cities will be eligible for more grants."

Griensewic said the grant effort is designed to not be a top-down program.

"It's up to the communities to decide where they want to start and how to go about it."

She said helping small towns upgrade infrastructure is also a key to economic development.

"People want to live where there is a safe water supply and good infrastructure."

Kessler said Minnesotans are experiencing the effects of climate change and understand the need to prepare for erratic weather. "Our state is becoming warmer and wetter."

She noted residents have been forced indoors more this summer because of smoke from Canadian wildfires, have shorter, warmer winters that are reducing traditions such as ice fishing, and are being overwhelmed by more frequent flooding and droughts.

Richter said the state and Region Nine assistance helps them do what they couldn't do on their own.

"It gives our small town a way to be involved in such a monumental thing as climate change."