For at least 100 years, downtown Annapolis has battled nuisance flooding. Prior to the 1980s, this happened every few years. Since the 1980s, flooding events have become both more frequent and more severe. In fact, of the top ten flooding events that have happened in the entire recorded history of Annapolis, more than half have taken place since the start of the new millennium. 

In 2019, City leadership gathered 100 people to crowdsource a solution. They were sworn in as commissioners of the “City Dock Action Committee,” or CDAC. They met, discussed, and argued (just a little) through solutions, eventually reaching consensus and publishing their findings as the CDAC Report (LINK). 

Since the publication of the CDAC recommendations, the City has undertaken a collaborative process to design and engineer a resiliency project while gaining community and governmental approvals. 

As of 2025, the City of Annapolis, in partnership with state and federal agencies, is bringing a bold vision to life: one that protects downtown from the impacts of flooding while enhancing public access to the water, boosting economic opportunity in historic downtown, and providing green space for all.