(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont, who serves as chairman of the State Bond Commission, today announced that he has scheduled the commission to vote at an upcoming meeting on the approval of an allocation of $187,500 in state funding that will be used to install pumps at Jobs Pond in Portland to address an ongoing situation in which rising groundwater has been causing flooding in nearby neighborhoods.
The pumps will be used to divert groundwater from the pond to the Connecticut River.
The governor explained that the approval of these state funds is expected to unlock $562,500 in federal matching funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to assist in the effort. At Governor Lamont’s direction, the Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection have been working with the Town of Portland on finding 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,” Governor Lamont said. “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 State Bond Commission will vote on the funding at its next meeting, which will be held on Friday, June 7, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in Room 1E of the Legislative Office Building in Hartford.