Sustainability and Resilience
The rise of severe storms in Lincoln County has impacted residents across the county. Concerns range from damaged wharves to undersized culverts. LCRPC is ready to assist in grant writing to complete projects. Please consult our Grant Assistance dashboard for more help.
To learn more, consider subscribing to our newsletter, Lincoln County Interprets. Topics range from hazard mitigation to flood response to protecting living shorelines.
Maine Won't Wait
In 2020, the Maine Climate Council released Maine Won't Wait, a four-year plan for climate action. Maine Won't Wait reviews the impacts of increased storm and water events in Maine along with resiliency and mitigation tactics including how to protect Maine's environment, building healthy and resilient communities, and modernizing buildings.
LCRPC has utilized Maine Won't Wait to help inform resilient land use planning, community outreach and engagement, transportation planning, LCRPC Interprets, and grant opportunities.
For more information, the updated 2024 Scientific Assessment of Climate Change and Its Effects in Maine is available to the public.
Community Resilience Partnership
Grants, access to funding, technical assistance, training, and more
Community Resilience Partnership: This is a program from the Governor's Office of Policy and Innovation and the Future (GOPIF). The partnership provides grant funding and direct support to municipal and tribal governments for climate mitigation and adaptation projects, helping them reduce emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change.
In spring 2024, Alna received $50,000 for resilience and response assistance, and Damariscotta received $50,000 for municipal building upgrades. Find past projects here.
How Does the Community Resilience Partnership Work?
Communities must enroll in the Partnership to receive funding and support. All municipalities and federally recognized tribes in Maine are eligible to join. Municipalities for Lincoln County that have already enrolled are Alna, Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, and Damariscotta. Newcastle and Bristol are in the process of enrolling.
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Completing community self-assessments
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Holding a workshop to discover your community's climate resilience and clean energy priority actions
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Adopting a municipal resolution committing to these priority actions
Once a community is enrolled in the Partnership, they can apply for Community Action Grants for a wide variety of projects that reduce energy use and make them more resilient to climate change effects.
Communities who need help enrolling may choose to work with a "service provider". Service providers are organizations or businesses who apply for a Service Provider Grant to help 2-5 communities enroll in the Partnership and apply for Community Action Grants.
Enrolling in the program involves:
The Community Resilience Partnership is supported by Regional Coordinators who assist communities located in their designated Region. Region 1 communities are those in York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, and Knox counties and also include nine municipalities in southern Oxford county.
Download the Region 1 Community Resilience Partnership Fact Sheet
Community Resilience Partnership Website
Learn More
General Inquiries: Gabe McPhail Resilient Communities, L3C gabe@rcmaine.org (207) 952-1817 Pronouns: she/her/hers, they/them/theirs
Direct Support York County Communities Karina Greater, Sustainability Coordinator Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC) kgraeter@smpdc.org (207) 571-7065 Pronouns: she/her/hers Cumberland County Communities Sara Mills-Knapp, Director of Sustainability Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) smills-knapp@gpcog.org (207) 664-8414 Lincoln County Communities Laura Graziano, Community Resilience Planner Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission (LCRPC) lgraziano@lcrpc.org (207) 882-5983 Knox and Sagadahoc County Communities Gabe McPhail, Resilient Communities, L3C gabe@rcmaine.org (207) 952-1817 Pronouns: she/her/hers, they/them/theirs
Damariscotta Waterfront Planning
Damariscotta Sea Level Rise Adaption Planning Study: Downtown Waterfront Area
The Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission and Maine Geological Survey in 2012 undertook a study of 450 miles of coastline in Maine's mid-coast region, including Damariscotta, to evaluate the effect of various sea level rise scenarios. The results of the study suggested that Main Street in Damariscotta and the town's municipal parking lot may be inundated under future conditions. As the primary commercial area of the town, the routine inundation of Main Street could have devastating effects on quality of life and may reduce the town's tax base.
The town of Damariscotta, through its Waterfront Planning Committee, secured a grant from the Maine Coastal Program and subsequently contracted with Milone & MacBroom, Inc. to study the effects of sea level rise and develop options for protecting the town. The study was intended to answer the following question: Are there adaptation techniques that can be implemented to make downtown buildings and public infrastructure more resilient in the face of existing flooding hazards and potential future hazards created by rising sea levels?
The goals of this study were:
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To determine the location and elevation of structures that are vulnerable to coastal flooding. This included surveying the elevation of windows, doors, and other openings in existing buildings that may allow for intrusion of floodwaters.
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To establish a sea level rise scenario and elevation for the town's use in planning improvements.
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To identify opportunities and recommend improvements for protecting structures as well as the town's parking lot from flooding.
To view the final report, click here.
Municipal Climate Adaptation Guidance
Many local governments in Maine are looking for practical steps to help make their communities more resilient in the face of rising sea-levels and more frequent intense storm events. To help address this need, the Municipal Planning Assistance Program and nine of Maine’s Regional Planning Organizations have collaborated on a series of guidance documents. These documents explain how to identify threats to community resources, and how to respond to those threats by integrating climate adaptation measures into existing local policies, practices and ordinances. Each of the ten documents in the series addresses a different area of municipal responsibility:
Introduction to the Municipal Climate Adaptation Guidance Series
Hurricane Mapping
Lincoln County Category 1 Hurricane Maps
LCRPC, the Maine Geological Survey and the Maine Coastal Program cooperated to develop maps of coastal areas within the Lincoln County that could be impacted by a Category 1 hurricane. The predicted areas of inundation reflect worst-case conditions of forward speed, trajectory and tide level. The maps were developed to help support emergency planning and preparedness efforts in Lincoln County. Areas predicted to be inundated with some level of water are shown in blue while potentially impacted buildings and public and private roads are highlighted in red and green, respectively. These maps do not provide information on predicted water levels, only that some level of water is projected to be at a building’s foundation or on a road surface.
To view the maps, click here.
Waste Water Treatment Plant
Town of Wiscasset and Boothbay Harbor Sewer Districts
The Town of Wiscasset and the Boothbay Harbor Sewer District have completed flood impact assessments of their wastewater treatment plants and those sewage pumps stations that are potentially at risk of flooding from storm surge and sea level rise. The studies were completed with the assistance of Wright-Pierce with principal funding from NOAA and are available here (BBH) and here (Wiscasset).
Questions?
Give us a call or reach out via email to discuss how we can assist
Laura Graziano, Community Resilience Planner
lgraziano@lcrpc.org