How The Ocean State is Building Resilience Against Urban Flooding
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — With an intensifying climate crisis, extreme flood prevention has rushed to the shore of the “Ocean State’s” climate concerns, especially in the capital of Providence.
Rhode Island is experiencing the impacts of rising sea levels caused by climate change. In Providence, the shoreline rose by 10.38 inches between 1938 and 2024. In 2024, Providence also recorded a record number of floods, totalling at 19. These two factors contribute to a city-specific phenomenon that Providence is all-too-familiar with in recent years: urban flooding.
Because of this, Providence’s official 2027 budget offers a notable increase in money allocated to urban flood resilience, specifically in regards to “storm response,” “sewer construction,” and “plumbing drainage and gas pipeline.” These budget increases are on top of existing federal grants focused on coastal resiliency across the state, and along Providence’s three rivers: the Providence River, the Moshassuck River, and the Woonasquatucket River.
Looking at urban flooding solutions in Providence can serve as a model to other mid-sized, coastal American cities on how to protect their communities from the sudden, dangerous flow of stormwater.
Urban Flooding In Providence
According to Emily Gonzalez, who has lived in Rhode Island for the last 13 years, even the elevated, wealthier areas of the city are notably still prone to urban flash floods. Gonzalez noted how during the Summer of 2025, the Wayland Square neighborhood, located on Providence’s notoriously steep College Hill, consistently experienced flash flooding. A lack of updated urban flooding infrastructure impacts surrounding highways, too. Another resident, Robert Jones, who has lived in Providence for the last 16 years, recalled an incident of his wife hydroplaning on I-95, which runs through Eastern Providence.
Extreme flooding in Providence is a subject of active research. Avery Hurwitz, a rising senior at the University of Rhode Island, created an ArcGIS map tracking flooding frequency in the Moshassuck River watershed region. Per his research, frequent flooding was more concentrated in metropolitan areas than rural ones in Rhode Island, like Providence. Mainly, this is attributed to the non-porous characteristics of asphalt and concrete infrastructure commonplace in more urban areas.
Along with the allocation of resources, Providence is actively working on necessary nature-based, engineering, and community-oriented solutions to urban flooding.
Community Education and Flood Preparedness
When asked about existing measures against urban flooding, Run on Climate LCPN Member and Ward 2 Providence City Councilor, Jill Davidson, noted how coastal cities “are all coping with this phenomenon.” Outside of Council duties, Davidson is the Communications Director of the Woonsquatucket River Watershed Council (WRWC), a local organization involved in coastal resiliency measures in the surrounding Narragansett Bay. She noted WRWC’s efforts to “help raise money to support the effort to manage stormwater and other climate impacts” throughout the Providence metropolitan region.
Davidson also emphasized relying on one’s neighbors as a form of resiliency. A community-based local effort that Davidson highlighted are Resilience Hubs, an initiative which supports public education on climate and flood disaster response. Davidson noted how one hub in Olneyville — a particularly flood-prone neighborhood — has empowered around “one hundred people” to “know how to help their neighbors” in a flooding emergency.
Outside of education-centered efforts, Davidson also platformed her proposed stormwater permitting amendment as part of the solution. She stated that she hoped it could reduce “sewer backup” to prevent flooding. Per Davidson, her proposed amendment would complement existing climate projects in Providence, especially measures her co-councilmember and ROC endorsed candidate Sue AnderBois has pushed for.
One key nature based solution currently being implemented in Providence is the ongoing renovation of landmark Riverwalk park, pictured above. The listed goals of the project are to better “filter storm water runoff” and adapt to “more frequent and severe flooding” related to sea level rise. The Riverwalk project will also implement a “blue-green corridor.” By replacing the concrete paths, walls, and riverbed with native plant species and soil, a “sponge” effect is created where excessive water from storms is absorbed.
The incorporation of nature-based solutions and infrastructural adaptations to combat extreme flooding is a case of Providence leading by example. Successful flood prevention in Providence — and elsewhere — will be accomplished by noting “what’s happening in the area, and make sure that we’re using all the tools in the area to manage stormwater better,” according to Davidson.
*Cover photo courtesy of Jasmine Wynn, June 18th, 2026