The Kresge Foundation has announced that the City of Hampton, Virginia, has closed on a $12 million bond offering in support of three nature-based flood-resilience projects.

Funded in part by a grant from the foundation's Environment Program, which matched a one-to-one challenge grant from an anonymous donor to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), the state's first environmental impact bond will support projects expected to add more than 8.6 million gallons of storage capacity for stormwater that would otherwise contribute to flooding and polluted runoff in the Newmarket Creek watershed, a key environmental, economic, and transportation corridor. Funds raised by the bond will be used by the city to predict, measure, and report on the stormwater volume storage capacity added by the projects — data that will inform future public investments in resilience projects aimed at strengthening the local economy and improving quality of life and environmental health for the city’s residents.

CBF and Quantified Ventures, an outcomes-based venture capital firm in Washington, D.C., provided technical assistance for the projects.

"The work this team has done to evangelize the use of impact bonds was not an easy process. We applaud all partners involved in helping the city to fight climate-driven urban flooding through solutions that provide reliable, equitable, and innovative water services," said Jalonne L. White-Newsome, senior program officer in Kresge's Environment Program. "The inequities in our nation's water systems have a disparate impact on low-income communities and communities of color. The importance of this work is intensified due to the prevailing socioeconomic conditions in the affected neighborhoods. Addressing these challenges will help to safeguard the economic future of Hampton and the general well-being of all residents."

(Rendering credit: Waggonner & Ball)