The Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, a joint venture between the city and county, is rolling out an effort to deal with rising sea levels and wants to know where members of the public are experiencing climate change in the area.
Called the Annapolis Maritime Resilience Initiative, it looks to address the growing challenges associated with rising sea levels, flooding and erosion in the watersheds around the Eastport peninsula.
“It’s really heavy on community engagement,” said Gabe Cohee, director of programs for the authority. “The engagement piece is really learning from the community, where they’re experiencing flooding and where they’re experiencing climate changes.”
The initiative, which was launched last year, comes after The City of Annapolis topped its previous record for the most flooding events experienced in a year in 2024.
The purpose of the resilience authority — which was created in 2022 after a law passed by the Maryland legislature — is to locate environmental risks in either Anne Arundel County or the City of Annapolis and use both governments’ resources to streamline projects.
Part of the organization’s strategy is to provide more protection from the threats of climate change on Annapolis’ miles of coast.
Cohee said the Eastport area is vulnerable to rising sea levels. Under the initiative, officials will search for areas to deploy mitigation measures in the Spa Creek and Back Creek watersheds. This is where community feedback enters the equation.
“We have a lot of historical data, and we can do desktop analysis to understand it,” Cohee said. “But then we want to learn from the community where they are experiencing water flow and learn from the community where they see their pinch points from a flood perspective.”
Suggestions will be taken at a meeting Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Pip Moyer Recreation Center, 273 Hilltop Lane.
The Annapolis Maritime Resilience Initiative received a $969,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The resilience authority will hold additional public meetings later this year. The next step involves selecting locations and presenting plans for them, Cohee said.
“This is what the resilience authority was created to do,” Cohee said. “Get into hyper-local areas to understand community needs and then help them identify the solutions by bringing in the technical assistance that’s necessary.”
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