Gov. announces state funding to address home flooding in Portland

PORTLAND, CT (WFSB) – The governor said he expects funding approval to help install pumps at a pond in Portland to address neighborhood flooding.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced on Wednesday that he scheduled the state Bond Commission to vote on the approval of an allocation of $187,000 in state funding that would be used to install the pumps at Jobs Pond.

The pumps will be used to divert groundwater from the pond to the Connecticut River.

People who live near the pond have had to deal with feet of water in their homes from rainfall and runoff.

Lamont said the approval of the state funds was expected to unlock $562,500 in federal matching funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to help in the effort.

At Lamont’s direction, the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection had been working with Portland to find a solution to address the groundwater levels.

“This is a very unique and complex situation because even though rainfall in the region is above normal for this time of year, water levels at the pond have continued to rise even on days when we’ve received no precipitation, and it’s still not clear exactly what is causing it and why this has been unlike any other event the pond has experienced in recent decades,” Lamont said in a statement. “By releasing these state funds, we can unlock federal matching dollars that will initiate action to pump waters from Jobs Pond into the Connecticut River, which we are hopeful will mitigate the impact of this flooding. I’ve directed our state emergency management and environment teams to remain in continuous contact with Portland officials on this situation. I thank U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and his staff for their willingness to collaborate with our state and the town on this effort.”

The Bond Commission planned to vote on the funding at its next meeting, which was set for Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Hartford.

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