Environmental Law & Policy Center

Project Title
Rethinking the Great Lakes Shoreline's Built Environment; Covid-19 Funding
Amount
$25,000
Category
Environment
Year
2020
Location
Chicago, IL

ELPC is the Midwest’s leading public interest environmental legal advocacy organization. Climate change realities are hitting hard on the Lake Michigan shoreline communities as record-high lake water levels and waves hammer the built environment, and upcoming lower water levels will stretch and strand water intakes, piers, docks and marinas. High water levels, combined with high waves caused by storm surges, are wreaking havoc now on residential buildings, commercial and industrial facilities, and beaches and parks along Lake Michigan. Multiple communities are threatened. This grant supports multi-faceted work to help make the Lake Michigan Shoreline resilient to flooding risks by analyzing specific high flood risk areas and through raising awareness of flooding challenges with policymakers. Additional funding was provided to address urgent needs resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic including a loss of fundraising revenue and additional IT expenses for work-from-home.