U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton visited Saugus Monday to discuss funding for a study of the proposed Saugus River Floodgate Project.
Moulton’s meeting with local and state officials comes after the Saugus Board of Selectmen sent a letter to the local and state delegations calling for funding for a study to investigate the potential of the project.
The project has been considered since the Army Corps of Engineers proposed it as a solution to flooding in the area in the 1980s. Sydney Simon, Moulton’s communications director, said that while it had been approved and authorized by Congress, it was halted and eventually deauthorized after a new state secretary of environmental affairs opposed it in 1993.
A study for the floodgate project has recently gained renewed interest following the increased threat of flooding and sea-level rise in the affected communities. Saugus, Lynn, Revere, Malden, and Everett. Saugus, for example, experienced significant flooding after a Jan. 13 storm.
“We had a productive meeting today and we’re all on the same page,” Moulton said. “No one disagrees with the fact that we must make smart investments now so that our communities are more resilient in the face of the effects of climate change. We all see the value of this project and believe it is critical we get this done.”
The cornerstone of the project, Simon said, would be a floodgate structure at the mouth of the Saugus River, with nine 500-foot-wide openings to “maintain navigation and preserve the natural tidal movements within the 1,650-acre tidal estuary behind the floodgates.”
Fifty percent of the study would have to be funded by a non-federal match, and Simon said that because the state backed out of the project in the early 1990s, the Army Corps of Engineers would need a memorandum of understanding for the funding before seriously considering it.
Simon said that the 50% can come from any non-federal source, and that the local stakeholders are going to explore how it can be reached. She said that the study would cost about $3 million.
Moulton said that the first order of business will be for the non-federal entities to designate how the non-federal match will be funded.
“Once that is secured, the entire federal delegation is ready to advocate as strongly as possible for the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct and fund this study,” Moulton said. “We look forward to continuing our advocacy at the federal level and working with our local partners to ensure this project happens.”
Moulton met with state Rep. Jessica Ann Giannino, Town Manager Scott Crabtree, and members of the Board of Selectmen.
Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jeff Cicolini attended the meeting and said that based on the conversation with Moulton, it is clear that he is well-versed on the flooding issue and had an understanding of the floodgate project as it was proposed many years ago.
He said that while the study is still in a very early stage, he and Moulton are optimistic about the path to obtaining funding for it.
“This project is critical to protecting a minimum of 40,000 residents in the affected areas of the communities, and the flooding and its frequency is rapidly getting worse,” Cicolini said.
Cicolini said he feels confident that Giannino, who represents parts of Saugus and Revere, will bring the state delegation and affected communities together to buy into the project and secure the federal government’s funding commitment.
