DAMARISCOTTA, Maine (AP) - Damariscotta officials are using a federal grant to protect the downtown from the tidal Damariscotta River.
Armed with $3 million in federal funds, plus more than $1 million in additional money, the town is developing plans for how to keep the river at bay during exceptionally high tides, the Bangor Daily News reports.
The problem is not unique to Damariscotta. Rising sea levels are affecting towns from York to Washington counties.
In Damariscotta, the flooding happens about twice a year.
“Everytime we know there is going to be a flood, we put sandbags by their back doors,” said Matt Lutkus, Damariscotta’s town manager.
This past spring, the town was awarded a $3 million grant by the federal Economic Development Administration to fund improvements that should make sandbags unnecessary.
In addition, the town has raised $1.3 million in direct donations to help with other improvements in the riverside parking lot.
Lutkus said the improvements will entail raising the elevation of all or some of the back parking lot created after a new section of Route 1 was built to bypass downtown. The town could put in a wall or a berm to keep out the water - as Machias is considering along a low-lying section of Route 1 in Down East Maine.
The town also is looking at upgrading the lot’s storm sewers so water can flow into the river, but not in the opposite direction, he said.
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