LYNN — The city will soon begin constructing environmentally-friendly infrastructure to combat flooding at the Strawberry Brook watershed.
In 2020, the city received approximately $312,500 total in state grants from the Baker administration’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program. The MVP program provides communities with funding and technical support to identify climate hazards, develop strategies to improve resilience, and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change.
After years of research into modes of infrastructure best fit to mitigate flooding and adapt to climate change impacts, Principal Planner Aaron Clausen said that the city will be ready to start searching for construction companies to install “green infrastructure” projects next month.
Clausen said that at Barry Park, the city will install a water-permeable parking area that rests on top of a water storage chamber. He said that by allowing water to flow through the ground naturally, rather than collecting it through a catch basin or stormwater pipe, the city will be better prepared for future floods.
“Barry Park is the one that’s underway […] stormwater is being directed to this green infrastructure to slowly infiltrate through the soil and recharge. In this case, we’re taking that sort of muddy dirt parking area between the play structures and the ball field, and we’re going to build a pervious parking area,” Clausen said. “It collects it and helps it slowly infiltrate into the ground to recharge groundwater, which is a natural, healthy thing for the ecosystem. It also helps store water during a flood event.”
The city will also place two modern stormwater collection channels, known as bioswales, on Ainsworth Street. Clausen said the installation of bioswales on Boston Street earlier this summer not only helped the city create sustainable water storage but brought about tertiary positive impacts such as a cleaner water supply and even an increased wildlife presence due to the landscaping that corresponds with building bioswales.
“Having water infiltrated through soil and soil medium actually cleans it. It’s like a sponge, it actually improves water quality. We’re also landscaping the neighborhood, which is a good thing. It beautifies the neighborhood and can create [a] habitat for birds and other sorts of urban animals,” Clausen said. “I had gone over to the Boston Street project, just to see I was operating one day to see capital was working. I noticed that there were a bunch of birds who were feeding on the seeds from the plants that were in the bioswale, so you can see how it actually helps support the ecosystem and support plant life. Sometimes that’s not the primary purpose, but it’s a benefit that brings a lot of value to the community in the neighborhoods beyond the sole purpose.”
Clausen said that combatting the impacts of climate change should be a high priority for all Lynn residents and organizations, not only because the city is likely to experience more flooding in the future due to sea level rise, but also because, Clausen said, it ultimately improves the city at large.
“We were lucky this summer to not have a lot of rain, but it’s fair to say we have to expect more flooding events in the near future, and we have to figure out what that means in terms of public safety, emergency routes, fire, police, health care, getting people to the hospital, when a road [is] underwater. How do we deal with that? These are the things that we’re going to be looking at more and more,” Clausen said. “There’s a real opportunity on the other end to help to combat climate change, so we should try to see the upside of it as well. Street trees are considered green infrastructure, they obviously create oxygen, they reduce air pollution, they actually capture particulate matter. Street trees really are a piece of this, but they also make neighborhoods nicer. There’s actually studies that show they bring up property value. There are these benefits and upsides to making these investments.”
“It’s just a shift in thinking,” Clausen continued.
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected]