Blunt Rochester holds listening tour on coastal concerns

Water, water everywhere. But will there be a drop of money to pay for critical projects in ocean and bay towns?

That was the dominant question during a listening tour held by Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester Jan. 20. Blunt Rochester hosted the tour because Congress is developing the 2026 Water Resources Development Act. The measure authorizes projects for flood control and environmental restoration, to name a few. It does not provide the funding.

The WRDA was last passed in 2024 and signed by President Joe Biden Jan. 4, 2025.

Blunt Rochester met with coastal mayors in three groups: Bethany Beach and South Bethany, Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach, and bay beaches from Lewes to Pickering Beach. 

“I wanted to hear the priorities and needs in Delaware collectively and to understand the unique challenges facing particular beach and bay communities,” Blunt Rochester said.  

She said the mayors’ biggest concern was uncertainty about government funding.

“People are concerned about the impact of funding freezes, delays and stalls,” she said. “It challenges projects that are already in the pipeline. The state matches some federal dollars. If the federal dollars don’t come through, it will have an impact statewide.”

Lewes Mayor Amy Marasco was part of the tour stop at the Slaughter Beach fire hall.

Officials from Sussex and Kent counties and Greg Patterson, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, were also at that session.

Marasco said there was a consistent message from other mayors and officials at the meeting.

“We all have the same issue: the coastal economy, tourism and the replenishment of beaches,” she said. “It is critical we get replenishment on a routine schedule, whether it is the bay or the ocean.”

Marasco said there is a need for ocean and bay communities to have a joint meeting this spring.

She said Lewes’ WRDA application will include two priorities: a study on undergrounding utilities and the Lewes Board of Public Works’ pump station resiliency project.

Communities had until Friday, Jan. 30, to submit a list of projects they would like to have included in the WRDA. That list must be submitted to the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee a week later, according to Blunt Rochester.

“There are shared concerns. Will the money be there for our state?” she said. “Historically, groups are pitted against each other for money, but from the conversations I’ve had, there is real coordination among communities – local, state and federal are working together.”