LYNN — A new climate resiliency initiative in Lynn will bring accessible drinking water and irrigation access to two community garden sites at Warren Street and High Rock, following months of planning, outreach, and collaboration between city officials and local organizations.

The effort is funded through the Community Resiliency Pilot Project, known as the CHRP grant, which awarded the Lynn cohort $100,000 to support environmental and public health improvements.

Lynn’s Health Division’s Health Access Officer Norris Guscott explained that the grant emerged from “a long, really equitable process” involving community outreach and research.

“Our cohort engaged different organizations, and when we visited different locations in Lynn, we surveyed a multitude of different categories of Lynn residents,” Guscott shared.

He noted that the outreach included seniors and residents with disabilities, all with the goal of identifying projects that would best address climate-related challenges in the city.

The CHRP initiative involves partnerships between the Lynn Health Division, the Latino Support Network, Emerald Cities Collaborative, and The Food Project, which will help maintain the garden spaces connected to the project.

According to Guscott, “the Barr Foundation played a huge role in that, as well as NAPC, who helps to facilitate the logistics of things.”

The Board recently approved the proposal of Park Commissioners to install accessible drinking fountains and water connections at both garden sites.

Hazel Kiefer, North Shore Farm Manager of The Food Project, explained the broader purpose behind the grant during the discussion.

“The grant, more or less, is aimed at finding creative interventions to combat a variety of different environmental challenges that one faces,” she said.

She described how extreme heat and urban “heat islands” have become growing concerns across Lynn neighborhoods.

The year-long planning process eventually led organizers to focus on water accessibility at community gardens.

Guscott explained that the city needed a project that could create a lasting impact while remaining within budget.

“Now, we received $100,000, which is a great deal of money, but for a multi-year sustained project, it’s a little challenging to do,” he said.

The solution was to bring water infrastructure to spaces already heavily used by residents.

He added that improving access to water would strengthen operations at the gardens while also encouraging residents to use green spaces as cooling areas during hot weather.

Kiefer detailed the existing challenges at the Warren Street garden site.

“We had been getting water from (the) Head Start office and running a hose 500 feet to a giant cistern that we filled up,” she said. “We’ve been doing that for 10 years, and it’s very labor-intensive.”

At High Rock, meanwhile, the community garden was only recently built, leaving organizers without permanent water access.

Under the proposal, accessible, plow-safe drinking fountains will be installed at both sites, while underground piping will also provide water directly to the gardens.

Kiefer noted that both fountain locations were chosen carefully to ensure accessibility.

“Both of these sites, we were able to identify a place where a water fountain could go that is fully accessible from a sidewalk or pavement,” she said. “So you could easily roll to it.”

The project has already secured cooperation from multiple city departments and contractors.

Guscott thanked “Lisa Nerich and DPW and Lynn Water and Sewer” for serving as “very willing partners.”

Kiefer added that McGrath Enterprises plans to complete the underground piping work.

While final administrative approvals and permits are still being processed, Guscott said the project is effectively ready to move forward.

“We have the funds ready. We have the construction partners ready. We have DPW ready and Lynn Water and Sewer, and we have the OK,” he said.

“All I can say is it’s going to happen,” he added.

They are still determining how they will measure the project’s long-term success.

According to Guscott, potential indicators include “how many folks are actually using it, how many folks know about it,” and whether the new infrastructure increases programming and activity at the sites.