By John Schwing

WESTPORT — Water, water everywhere …

Westport has taken a soaking so far this winter, with nearly 4.5 inches of precipitation so far this month — twice the January norm — on top of 8.35 inches in December, according to National Weather Service data.

Three wet, windy storms within a week earlier this month culminated with widespread flooding Jan. 13 throughout downtown, along low-lying coastal areas and across roads and yards abutting streams. 

And more wet weather is on the way this weekend, according to the weather service.

Underscoring the hazards posed by local flooding — an issue afflicting parts of town for years — is the newly released “Westport Progress Report on Floodplain Management,” an annual document required by the Western Connecticut Council of Governments, of which the town is member. It reflects local efforts to mitigate flood hazards in conformance with Federal Emergency Management Agency guidelines. (A related “hazard mitigation plan,” compiled for WestCOG by the Milone & MacBroom engineering firm for each of the planning agency’s member towns, provides a detailed look at local risks posed by flooding and other potential hazards. Click here to read the Westport report.)

The Jan. 24 “progress” report, according to a town press release, can help enable Westport residents receive a 10 percent reduction in the cost of flood insurance offered by FEMA in communities, like Westport, participating in the program’s Community Rating System.

Municipalities are ranked on a sliding scale of 1 to 10 — with No. 1 highest — and the better a community’s rating the higher the reduction in flood insurance costs available for property owners.

Westport’s flood-mitigation efforts, according to town officials, are rated at 8, two notches from the bottom rank of 10. Policies in communities with the top rank are eligible for a 45 percent discount.

However, the town’s statement says, “more efforts are planned” to improve the town’s standing — and the report lists several projects, including:

• A comprehensive resiliency planning study for all of Westport’s public beaches. (A Board of Finance vote was delayed on $205,249 requested to fund the study earlier this month after several board members asked whether the study could be funded by a grant rather than municipal dollars.)

• Removal of the Bulkley Pond dam on Sasco Brook in 2022, with the pond now reduced to a wet meadow.

• Plans by the Flood and Erosion Control — whose recent meetings have set aside time for discussion of local flood-related issues — “to identify watercourses in town for stream management applications at known flood-prone areas.”

• Updated flood maps for Westport will be adopted in 2024-25, which the state’s National Flood Insurance Program coordinator can use to recommend changes in zoning regulations. 

• A proposal by the town’s conservation director to revive the Selectmen’s Real Property Committee, with a directive to list possible land acquisitions, focused on so-called “Repetitive Loss Properties” and expanding passive open space to help ease flooding. That suggestion has not been approved.

• A proposed “Natural Hazards Awareness Week,” tentatively in June, to raise broader public awareness about flooding and other natural hazards through a variety of outreach programs.

Flood board, RTM members weigh in

Members of the town’s Flood and Erosion Control Board have periodically discussed local flooding issues and ways to help mitigate the problems over the last year or two.

At the board’s January meeting, according to the meeting’s minutes, members decided to prioritize flood-related projects, “holding one or two meetings a year specifically for inviting public comment related to flooding, and to work on public outreach and education for homeowners in Westport.”

Nancy Kail, a Representative Town Meeting member from District 9, said she supports the board “taking such actions to provide more resources and a public forum for flooding issues,” according to the minutes.

Kail was joined by Kristin Schneeman, a fellow RTM member from District 9 at the board’s meeting last November. Both advocated for greater RTM involvement in flood-mitigation initiatives, such as by helping spread word to constituents about the board’s public-information meetings and projects.

At the board’s next meeting, scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 online, after the panel conducts public hearings on several applications, another discussion of flood-related issues is planned. 

Among the issues up for review, according to the agenda, is “recent weather and flooding in Westport.”

John Schwing, the Westport Journal consulting editor, has held senior editorial and writing posts at southwestern Connecticut media outlets for four decades. Learn more about us here.