State Agency Resilience Planning and Implementation: Vermont Agency of Natural Resources

State Agency Capacity and Partnerships

Vermont, like many other states, has seen an increase in the number of disasters in the state, driving a dedicated focus to resilience and adaptation. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) in 2022 established the Vermont Climate Action Office (CAO), a division of ANR’s Secretary’s Office aimed at coordinating and providing expertise on state-led climate initiatives, as well as monitoring, assessing, and tracking climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience activities. The CAO was created following the adoption of the state’s first Climate Action Plan (2021), which is a requirement of the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act (2020) and will be updated every four years.

The CAO is focused on three core areas of work: support of implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act, community and stakeholder engagement, and coordination of climate programs. The CAO coordinates closely across state agencies through its Inter-Agency Advisory Board, which includes representation from various state agencies and the Vermont State Climatologist. The CAO also supports and coordinates with the Vermont Climate Council, which was established by the state legislature via the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act. The Vermont Climate Council is a 23-member body of which one-third are representatives from state agencies – including ERIS Board Member and ANR Secretary, Julie Moore – and two-thirds are appointed by the legislature to represent other key stakeholders. The CAO also coordinates with regional planning commissions which are quasi-governmental organizations that support project planning and serve as a go-between for state agencies and municipal governments.

Resilience Actions and Resources

The CAO has two staff working on resilience: a Resilience and Adaptation Coordinator and a Resilient Lands Coordinator. While the Office is relatively new, the resilience efforts to date focus on two primary areas:

1. Prioritizing resilience at a statewide scale. Vermont’s Governor’s and State Treasurer’s offices are working together to scale up the work already underway and to prioritize resilience efforts by evaluating criteria and costs necessary to fund and implement resilience strategies. The CAO is leading the development of the Resilience Implementation Strategy in partnership with the State Treasurer’s Office. A list of priority actions will be released on July 1, with a full costing report of the priority actions due for release on September 15, 2025. 
2. Providing support and access to resources for municipalities. Vermont does not have county governments, so a lot of work happens at the municipal level. Vermont has 252 municipalities, 90 percent of which have fewer than 5,000 residents, creating capacity challenges in their abilities to plan, implement, and engage in resilience work. The CAO is focused on developing straightforward tools and resources to help these communities understand and talk about resilience, and to incorporate resilience into their planning and implementation efforts. Some examples of the tools and resources for municipalities are:
   • Municipal Vulnerability Indicators Tool which supports communities in assessing where they may be most adversely affected by climate change by displaying geospatial factors that indicate vulnerability across social, community, infrastructure, built environment, natural environment, and economic sectors.
   • Municipal Climate Toolkit which, once completed this year, will connect municipalities to existing state resources that support municipal action on climate change.
   • Municipal Climate Planning Framework & Guide which will provide a framework and accompanying guide that helps municipalities develop plans that support incorporation of climate resilience and mitigation considerations that are locally relevant and aligned with State climate goals. When developed, the accompanying guide will be applicable to municipalities with dedicated staff capacity, and to communities with limited staff capacity who rely on volunteers. The framework and guide will be piloted in 2026, with a final set of resources available at the end of 2026.

Other state agencies in Vermont are also providing resilience support. For example, within ANR, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hosts Rivers & Roads trainings to educate state, municipal, and private sector transportation infrastructure professionals on how to protect and restore natural river and floodplain processes to reduce flood vulnerability of infrastructure statewide. To improve resilience at the municipal level, Vermont Emergency Management (VEM) funds hazard mitigation projects through FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Flood Resilient Communities Fund, which is a state-funded program that supports voluntary buyouts and other hazard mitigation projects. VEM, in partnership with DEC and regional planning commissions, also leads the Resilience Initiative for Vermont Empowerment and Recovery (RIVER) initiative, a project dedicated to developing locally-supported ideas for reducing flood damage in several municipalities hard hit by flooding in 2023. Overall, the state is working to improve resilience long-term and enhance response capabilities.

Response in Action: Example of Disaster Response

In recent years, Vermont has experienced multiple significant flooding events. Since 2010, Vermont has had 22 flood-related federal disaster declarations, nearly two per year, which is up from an average of one every other year throughout the 1960s – 1980s. In July 2023, a large flood impacted dozens of communities throughout Vermont, causing over $600 million in estimated damage to public and private infrastructure. Impacts included:

• Eighteen public drinking water systems, serving approximately 40,000 Vermonters, sustained significant damage to their infrastructure or operation, requiring boil water or do not drink notices;
• Thirty-three of the state’s 92 municipal wastewater facilities sustained damage totaling more than $75 million;
  • Three facilities experienced catastrophic damage that will require extensive rebuilding and possible relocations;
• More than 80 landslides required a site visit by the Vermont Geological Survey;
• ANR’s Spill Program received approximately 240 calls related to releases of hazardous materials or flooded aboveground storage tanks;
• Five DEC-regulated dams breached and approximately 57 DEC-regulated dams were overtopped;
• An estimated 25,000 tons of flood debris were brought to the Vermont landfill;
• More than 4,000 homes and 800 businesses were damaged or destroyed;
• Four state parks were temporarily closed due to damage; and
• Hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to state and municipal lands and recreational areas were sustained.

In response to the flood damage, ANR:

• Deployed teams of river engineers and fisheries biologists to provide thousands of hours of on-demand technical assistance to local foremen on road repairs, and to complete rapid, post-flood screening inspections of nearly 400 dams throughout the state to identify storm-related damage;
• Worked with the State Legislature during the 2024 session to commit $5 million to a revolving low-cost loan fund to support dam owners in making necessary repairs;
• Assessed dozens of active and potential landslide areas and provided advice to property owners about risk; and
• Continued the long-term effort to support conservation and restoration of critical forest, floodplain, and wetland areas to promote landscape-level resilience.

While the CAO was new at the time of the 2023 flood, and was not involved in immediate disaster response and recovery, all state agencies coordinated closely to respond to these events and build resilience for the future.

Moving Forward

As the state prepares for the future, ANR has a webpage of case studies on how Vermont towns are building flood resilience. DEC and the State Recovery Office also recently supported nonprofit partners in hosting an event for the Winooski River watershed and surrounding communities to evaluate flood modeling and identify gaps so they can expand their efforts beyond the traditional geographic boundaries of a single municipality. Beyond state actions, in individual communities volunteers have worked to help them adapt and be more resilient. For example, following a 2024 flood, a group of volunteers in Plainfield, Vermont have supported the community in recovery and building resilience including developing a website with information