RASCL

The 2022 "RASCL" Summit held at Delaware Technical Community College in Dover on Dec. 6. (Photo: WBOC) 

DELAWARE- The Resilient and Sustainable Communities League or "RASCL" held it's annual summit in Dover on Tuesday, Dec. 6. 

Members of the RASCL network gathered at the Del-One Conference Center at Delaware Technical Community College to discuss issues that are important to Delawareans. 

The theme of this years summit was "Overcoming Roadblocks to Resilience and Sustainability." 

The statewide summit brings together resilience practitioners, elected officials, government agencies and community members. 

Officials discussed topics such as climate change and sea level rise. Organizers said it is important for all communities to be on the same page when it comes to combatting these issues. 

Jana Savini is the coastal collaboration coordinator at the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary. She said many coastal towns in Delaware face similar issues. 

"Climate change doesn't care that there was a pandemic or that we're short staffed," said Savini. "It's just all about what have we all been dealing with because really it's all the same and then how we can come together to find solutions."

Phillip Cane represents Delaware's Emergency Management Agency (DEMA). He spoke about grant programs to mitigate the impact of future disasters such as flooding. 

Cane discussed three grants: the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Grant (BRIC) and the Flood Mitigation Assistance Grant Program (FMA). 

Although there are millions of dollars in grants available, applying for funds can be a daunting task for some municipalities. 

"It's not quite like buying stuff off Amazon you can't scroll and say that's the grant cycle I want," said Cane. "A lot of the smaller towns are staffed with volunteers and their staff are maybe not experienced with grant writing and that's why we are trying to build that capability."

Cane said federal dollars could go to waste without enough eligible project applications. 

Delaware is one of the lowest lying states in the nation and the annual RASCL Summit hopes to make it easier for even the smallest towns to eliminate long-term environmental risks.