Resilience Authority outlines Annapolis Maritime Resilience Initiative, emphasizes nature-based solutions and community outreach

The Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County on Jan. 9 told the Environmental Matters Committee it has begun a planning effort to identify nature‑based flood‑risk projects across the Spa Creek and Back Creek watersheds, with a priority on Eastport.

“This Annapolis Maritime Resilience Initiative kicked off in October,” said Gabe Cohen, director of programs at the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, describing grant funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. “We’re looking for community scale projects that we can prioritize…so we can really take that to new funding sources to the city.”

Why it matters: Eastport has experienced repeated flooding and the authority said it will use community input, technical mapping and design concepts to generate a master plan and a short list of high‑priority, fundable projects. Committee members pressed staff on how the authority’s work will coordinate with the city’s separate capital projects and FEMA‑funded efforts.

What the project will do: Cohen said the team — which includes community‑engagement contractor Rob Atkin with Council Fire and technical firm Greenvest — will gather local observations of flooding, combine them with models and mapping, then identify sites for “10 concept designs” and a master plan with funding strategies. “We’re looking for opportunities to reduce risk,” Cohen said.

Staff and partners clarified the authority’s scope. Jasmine Wilding of the City Department of Public Works told the committee the city has a separate capital project for Eastport that focuses on public right‑of‑way and structural storm‑water solutions. “Those more structural types of solutions would be implemented under that project funding line, whereas the Resiliency Authority is more looking at…nature‑based solutions potentially on some public, but also on private property,” Wilding said.

Public engagement and schedule: The authority said Quarter 1 (January–March) will focus on outreach with a community meeting planned for Feb. 4 at Pit Moyer. Quarter 2 (April–May) will pair community input with Greenvest’s technical assessment; June–July will focus on site selection and ground‑truthing; August will draft designs and funding schedules; and the team expects a master plan by September with time for community review before a December grant deadline. Cohen said the team requested an extension of the original grant schedule to December to allow more time for outreach and design.

Technical and funding context: Cohen and Wilding said the authority will coordinate with existing FEMA funds and local projects and that some mitigation measures (for example, backflow preventer valves and storm‑drain upgrades) may be implemented through city capital work rather than the nature‑based project. Committee members asked whether the initiative will consider options including managed retreat; Cohen said “everything’s on the table,” but that to date the authority has focused on living shorelines, bioswales, constructed wetlands and related nature‑based approaches.

Next steps: The authority will continue outreach in February, publish mapping and vulnerability findings in spring, and present site priorities and conceptual designs for community review later in the year. Committee members asked the authority to return with maps and early opportunity/vulnerability areas so aldermen can brief constituents.

Ending: The authority invited committee members and residents to attend the Feb. 4 meeting at Pit Moyer from 6 to 8 p.m. and said staff will circulate a flyer with event details.