Spotlight on West Haven Coastal Protection

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and West Haven Mayor Nancy R. Rossi last week discussed how an upcoming Senate vote could bring “millions of dollars” in federal aid to the city’s coastline, the City of West Haven, CT, said in its latest release. 

In the next three weeks, Blumenthal said, the Senate is poised to vote on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), broad legislation to address the nation’s water infrastructure needs.

West Haven’s shoreline was severely eroded by Superstorm Sandy, making private and public infrastructure vulnerable to future weather events.

Blumenthal said that the provisions, also supported by U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., call for the city to receive millions in federal funding to build dunes along the shoreline.

“Dunes are immensely important to the protection of property and life,” Blumenthal said. The Army Corps of Engineers would oversee the federal project, he added.

“We are taking a multipronged approach to minimize the effect future storms will have on West Haven,” Rossi said. “On a beautiful day like today, it may be difficult to imagine why we are talking about coastal resiliency and storm hazard mitigation, but this is exactly when we should be making plans – not when a serious storm is in the forecast.”

Officials have also said that the gates are vital to the preservation and restoration of the Cove River tidal wetland.

When functioning, they are designed to protect the surrounding infrastructure and restore tidal flushing of the 90-acre marsh without flooding upland property, including homes, businesses and West Haven High, which is undergoing a $134 million reconstruction.