Overview
We now experience more frequent and heavy rainfall events than ever recorded. As a result, communities are seeing record flooding and costly impacts to critical stormwater infrastructure. These challenges are expected to grow. Our Minnesota FloodWise Communities Extension Program provides technical assistance and practical solutions for stormwater management.
Benefits of participation
This no-cost program is designed to reduce the time and resource burden on communities needing to plan and implement effective stormwater management and resiliency solutions.
It includes resources tailored to communities' local climate and socioeconomic conditions, a complete stormwater vulnerability assessment, and an early action roadmap with options for additional support with technical design, grant writing, modeling and other services.
This program is targeted at small- to medium-sized municipal governments and organizations with oversight over their stormwater systems. Cross-organizational teams often work collaboratively on the assessment.
Onboarding, engagement, and completing the assessment usually requires about 24 working hours of staff time (the equivalent of three eight-hour work days) spread over six months. Exact time commitment may vary based on the number of participating individuals and the scale of the assessment.
Communities who have participated in a similar program in other Great Lakes states have reported saving tens of thousands of dollars in consultant fees. Additionally, they report anticipating future savings through the use of program outcomes to inform decision-making and averted costs from extreme weather events.