Waterloo, Canandaigua awarded climate resilience grants

ALBANY — The City of Canandaigua and the Village of Waterloo have been awarded state climate resilience grants.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that Canandaigua has been awarded $2.65 million from the Inland Flooding and Local Waterfront Revitalization Program for the Sucker Brook Flood Resiliency Plan implementation. A heavy rainstorm in August 2023 caused widespread flooding and damage in neighborhoods where Sucker Brook is located.

“We are very pleased to read the announcement that we have been awarded $2,650,600 to support the Sucker Brook Flood Resiliency Implementation Project,” Canandaigua City Manager John Goodwin said in a news release. “While this is a significant and much-appreciated investment in our community, it does not represent the full amount originally requested. We are currently in communication with the state to better understand the details of the award. This information will help us make informed decisions about which components of the project can move forward at this time.”

Waterloo was awarded $1.93 million for its eastern storm sewer system improvement project. That money will come from the Coastal Rehabilitation and Resiliency Project program.

“We are extremely excited and grateful to be able to say that we received just about all of what was requested,” Waterloo Mayor Walter Bennett said. “This award is going to be paired with the $3 million Northern Borders grant we also recently received for a drainage project that should alleviate nearly all drainage issues in the eastern half of the village, outside of some small pockets we’re still working on. This project is part of a comprehensive plan consisting of five projects totaling nearly $14 million to overhaul all of the village’s flooding and drainage issues.”

The grants are included in $30 million awarded from the 2022 Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act. The $30 million will go to 19 projects statewide to enhance community resilience to extreme weather events and flooding across the state. The Bond Act supports projects in the categories of restoration and flood risk reduction, open space land conservation and recreation, water quality improvement and resilient infrastructure.