The Baltimore City Board of Estimates on Friday approved $5.1 million in funding for the creation of new wetlands within the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River.
The funding, provided by the city’s Department of Public Works, will be administered by South Baltimore Gateway Partnership (SBGP) and Baltimore City government.
It contributes to the Middle Branch Resiliency Initiative, a project that aims to protect South Baltimore neighborhoods from storms and flooding while restoring the shoreline of the Middle Branch.
The Middle Branch Resiliency Initiative is part of Reimagine Middle Branch, a community-driven project to reconnect South Baltimore to its shoreline through parks, trails, and public amenities.
The project stretches from Curtis Bay and Brooklyn in the south to Riverside, Locust Point, and Port Covington in the north.
The area includes 19 neighborhoods, 30 parks, and 11 miles of shoreline.
The shoreline has become thin and fragmented from the impacts of highways, trash, and erosion, making the neighborhoods more susceptible to flooding.
“Today’s funding announcement is a win in support of the neighbors and communities in South Baltimore, which these new wetlands will protect,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott in a statement on Friday.
“As a port city, we must proactively support and complete these types of projects to improve Baltimore’s climate resiliency,” he said.
The funding will be used to build wetlands adjacent to BGE’s Spring Gardens natural gas facility in Ridgely’s Cove and Middle Branch Park in Cherry Hill and Brooklyn.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will match the $5.1 million with a grant of $3.5 million.
The combined funds will go towards the construction of wetlands on a city-owned parcel of waterfront land at South Hanover Street and Frankfurst Avenue in Brooklyn.
“This site floods regularly, keeping emergency vehicles from reaching Harbor Hospital quickly,” said SBGP executive director Brad Rogers in a statement.
“These wetlands are protective measures to make sure that South Baltimore communities and their resources are protected for the future, long-term,” he said.
The group is waiting to hear back from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on whether the project will receive an additional $32 million in funds requested through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.
The project is currently a finalist.
