California Awards $21.7M to Boost Climate Resilience Across the State

A new Regional Resilience Grant Program aims to protect California communities from climate impacts like wildfire, drought, sea level rise and extreme heat.

State leaders have unveiled a $21.7 million funding initiative in the inaugural round of California’s Regional Resilience Grant, part of the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program.

The Grant, supported by the Gov. Gavin Newsom’s multi-year climate budget, aims to fortify climate change resilience at a regional level. The initiative supports 16 new regional partnerships.

The Regional Resilience Grant focuses on addressing a range of climate-related challenges, including wildfires, rising sea levels, droughts, floods and extreme heat events. The grant distinguishes between two project types: planning and implementation.

The awards include $6.2M in planning grants to 10 regional partnerships engaging their communities in studying and determining how to address climate risks in their regions. In addition, $15.5 million in Implementation Grants to six regional partnerships are going to fund physical projects and programs that directly protect communities from climate change impacts.

The initiative is funding at least one project from each of the nine geographic regions the California Climate Adaptation Strategy identifies.