A $30 million federal grant will help address drainage issues in two historic West Savannah neighborhoods near the Springfield Canal.

The City of Savannah will pick up $12 million in funding for the $42 million project to reduce flooding in the historic Carver Village and Cloverdale neighborhoods, according to an announcement Friday.

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be released in two phases: $2.7 million for surveying and engineering costs, and $27.3 to fund construction within the Springfield Canal basin.

The project is expected to take five years to complete, according to the city.

“We have done a lot over the years to address historic flooding around the Springfield Canal but with this federal assistance we will be able to initiate mitigation of flooding issues that will benefit these neighborhoods and the entire Westside of Savannah for generations to come,” Mayor Van Johnson said in a statement.

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The grant is being administered through the Justice40 Initiative, a program introduced in 2022 by President Joe Biden to advance environmental justice and spur economic opportunity for disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved and overburdened by pollution.

“This grant will help us improve the lives of so many residents in these historic neighborhoods and is part of a continued effort to get back to the basics of good government,” City Manager Jay Melder said in Friday’s announcement. “It is imperative we work toward common sense solutions and partnerships that serve the entire city and especially those neighborhoods that have long been underserved.”

The project will direct stormwater runoff from flood-prone areas to the canal, which runs south and east of Cloverdale and east of Carver Village,

The historically Black neighborhoods, created in the middle of the 20th century, are in an area where the city is driving redevelopment efforts including Enmarket Arena, repurposing the historic Water Works building and creating Canal Park.

Carver Village, designated as a National Register Historic District in 2019, was established in 1948 as affordable housing for Black residents. The community was named for George Washington Carver, the famous 20th century agriculturalist, scientist and inventor.

The district includes more than 500 houses, churches, buildings and sites, and is bordered by West Gwinnett Street to the north, Blun Avenue to the south, Endly Street and Collat Avenue to the west, and Allen Avenue to the east.

Cloverdale, also dating to the 1940s, is bordered by Eleanor Street to the north, east and west, with Cloverdale Drive cutting through the heart of the community.

The two neighborhoods are divided by Interstate 16.

John Deem covers climate change and the environment on the Georgia coast. He can be reached at jdeem@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: $30M federal grant targets drainage issues near Savannah canal