MACHIAS — Downtown Machias has experienced nine floods at the 100-year level in the past seven years.

Ben Edwards, a member of the Upper Machias Bay Master Plan Leadership Committee and vice chair of the Machias Select Board, shared the information during a community meeting earlier this month.

Conditions are expected to become more challenging as climate change accelerates, polar ice caps melt, sea levels rise and storms grow more frequent and intense, according to Judy Colby-George, a member of the leadership committee and owner of Viewshed, a Yarmouth-based landscape architecture, geographic information systems and planning firm.

The meeting, part of a community series, drew about 80 people and was scheduled to focus on downtown flooding in Machias, according to Town Manager Sarah Craighead Dedmon. The discussion included why flooding happens, where it occurs and how residents can better protect themselves in the future.

Downtown Machias faces flood risk from both directions — rising sea levels in the ocean and swelling river tributaries fueled by heavier rainfall, snowmelt and runoff. When both surge at once, floods like the Jan. 10, 2024, event can strike quickly and unpredictably, leaving residents stranded and damaging buildings.

“And then all of those things go together, and when your storm frequency increases, you have the perfect storm of lots of different ways that flooding can happen in the downtown,” Colby-George said.

She explained that the “100-year flood” label means there is a 1 percent chance in any given year that water levels will reach that mark — the same level first recorded in 1979.

The Jan. 10, 2024, storm rose 1.5 feet above the “100-year flood” mark, damaging downtown buildings. It was one of four floods to hit the region in a four‑month span.

Edwards said he drove downtown Jan. 10, 2024, to “rescue” his mother‑in‑law from rising floodwaters in her office.

“Thankfully, only her car was lost,” he said, “but it did underscore just how vulnerable our downtown is, and how quickly and unpredictably these events can unfold.”

After Edwards opened the meeting, about 80 attendees split into five focus groups, each discussing a different topic with local experts and stakeholders. He summarized the public input gathered so far in the Upper Machias Bay Master Plan process, which began in January 2025.

“We need to keep businesses operating. We need to keep the traffic flowing. We need to protect the wastewater treatment plant. We need to stabilize our riverbanks and modernize our stormwater infrastructure,” Edwards said. “And most of all, we need to maintain the character and feel of downtown.”

Tora Johnson, director of the Sustainable Prosperity Initiative for the Sunrise County Economic Council, led the stormwater breakout group. Other groups focused on wastewater; infrastructure upgrades and erosion control; options for helping owners of vulnerable or damaged property; emergency response and the downtown flood map; and important considerations for businesses.

Johnson said in a telephone interview that the stormwater group discussed the town’s aging, overcapacity stormwater system and impaired basins.

She noted that the Maine Department of Transportation has upgraded some infrastructure, while Machias Public Works is mapping the stormwater system to identify drains in need of repair and maintenance.

Johnson added that a stormwater engineer at the University of Maine is working with students to build a downtown model to help the committee study how water — whether runoff or storm surge — can be slowed or diverted away from downtown.

Johnson said the committee is now focused on the short- to medium-term timeline for flood risk and mitigation and on educating business and property owners in Machias’ downtown commercial district on ways to manage that risk. She noted this approach reflects public input gathered so far.

“We heard that loud and clear from the public meeting — that the near-term goal is to help individual business owners with what they want to do and how they want to adapt, and help them understand their risks,” she said.

Johnson said encouraging rain gardens and more natural buffers in the watershed is a good first step toward mitigating flood risk downtown.

“This isn’t one problem,” Johnson said. “It’s a set of problems.”

She said there was a “colossal amount of input from the public” at the Dec. 10 meeting, which many downtown business owners attended. Downtown business owners also serve on the leadership committee. Formal invitations were sent, and all downtown businesses were visited to ensure they were aware of the situation and the opportunity to provide input.

Edwards concluded his overview by saying the town and other stakeholders have a chance to create a plan and make decisions that can “do more than fix what’s broken.”

“We could actually create real opportunities. Opportunities for downtown, for our local businesses and for the long-term economic future of this community,” Edwards said. “I would encourage us to think big here. Bigger than just solving the problems in front of us.”

The leadership committee, formed in January 2025, is a collaboration between the town of Machias and the Sunrise County Economic Council to address crucial issues, such as downtown flooding, replacement of the Machias Dike Bridge and water quality.

According to the group’s website, which includes extensive information at sunrisecounty.org/machiasbay, the project aims to build collaborative relationships among communities and partners, produce recommendations and outline next steps for future projects.

The next meeting on the Upper Machias Bay Master Plan is scheduled for Jan. 12, and formal recommendations for how to proceed are to be presented to the leadership committee at a public meeting set for Feb. 23.

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor, a nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization. To get regular coverage from The Monitor, sign up for a free Monitor newsletter here.