Last month, 30 Mile hosted the Maine Inland Flooding Inter-agency Working Group for them to see first-hand how communities are responding to the impacts of severe weather events. The group formed in 2024 and is composed of hydrologists, meteorologists, hazard mitigation specialists, planners, state and federal resilience policy professionals, non-profits, and engineering consultants. Convenings are geared toward sharing research and innovations in inland flooding, modeling, and identifying potential avenues for partnerships.
During a morning of presentations and site visits, we covered local flooding issues, town partnerships, funding barriers, project prioritization, and opportunities for collaboration and tool development. Our local examples showed what 30 Mile has been doing to improve road infrastructure to control erosion, protect water quality, enhance public safety, and maximize grant opportunities for small towns within the watershed. Our multi-stop field trip included visits to two high-priority stream crossing sites planned for large upgrades (including the now complete Tower Rd site). We wrapped up at the Sandy River Rd stream crossing in Chesterville, a project we completed in 2020 after nine years of planning, engineering, applying for grants, and town collaboration, which demonstrated the long timelines and persistence that come with many of these large upgrades.
30 Mile was honored to host this group to share our experiences and learn from their expertise. We look forward to exploring potential solutions together to ensure our towns and their infrastructure will be able to withstand future large weather events.
This article was included in 30 Mile’s August 2026 newsletter. To view the full release, click here.