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Boulder County grant will help city create tool to map, respond to climate risk

The city’s climate vulnerability and risk mapping project is among the 2021 recipients of money from the county’s Environmental Sustainability Matching Grant Program.
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Photo by Macie May

A Longmont effort to identify local climate risk and its associated impacts on the community is getting a boost from Boulder County.

The city’s climate vulnerability and risk mapping project is among the 2021 recipients of money from the county’s Environmental Sustainability Matching Grant Program. The aim of the project is “to create an online tool that can be used by the city of Longmont and its residents to help identify localized climate risk to the environment and associated community impacts. The tool will be used to assist in the planning of climate impact mitigation, adaptation and resiliency responses,” Aterah Nusrat, Longmont’s sustainability grants and program coordinator, said in an email​. 

“Data from the mapping project could support subsequent prioritization of actions and resources for those communities,” she said.

The project, which is slated to start by mid-year and be done by year’s end, will cost $39,629, which will be covered by the county grant, Nusrat said.

In addition to the mapping program, the county grant also will help pay a portion of Nusrat’s salary. Her sustainability grants and program coordinator position was created last year and she was hired in April. This year’s county grant will pay $40,383 of her salary and benefits, with the city paying $38,796 from its Water, Streets and Open Space funds, according to Nusrat.

The county grant program is funded by a sustainability tax passed by voters in 2016. The grant program itself predates the tax, having started in 2014. 

Longmont has received grants since 2016, but prior to last year they were limited to $15,000, Nusrat said. Last year the city was awarded $125,800, which in addition to Nusrat’s position, funded the Sustainable Neighborhood Solutions and Longmont Women and Infant Farmers Market programs and the creation of the Equitable Carbon-Free Transportation Road Map, according to Nusrat.

Those grants, as well as this year’s, allow the city “to increase its limited staff capacity and resources to make meaningful progress towards achieving the city’s sustainability and climate action goals. The projects which have been funded by the grant to date/selected for funding would either not be funded by existing city budgets, or would be delayed until/unless adequate resources were available,” she said in her email.

In addition to Longmont, Boulder, Erie, Jamestown, Lafayette, Louisville, Lyons, Nederland and Superior also received 2021 grants. Projects include water conservation, waste diversion, incentives for business sustainability, carbon sequestration and staff positions.

“We are thrilled to continue this grant program, thanks to voters’ approval of the Sustainability Tax,” Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones stated in a news release. “I have been so proud of the vision and creativity from Boulder County municipalities over the years. This tenacity has resulted in many successful projects, and I’m confident these ongoing partnerships will meet the shared goal of more sustainable communities in the future.”