About the Project
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.
City Dock Updates
JULY 29, 2026
City Dock Progress Report
As the City Dock Flood Mitigation Project moves forward, it is important to provide updates. The great news is that we are on schedule to reopen City Dock about a year from now. Crews are working as quickly as they can to get to the phase of the project we are all anxious to see: “completion.”
Throughout the more than six years of planning for the City Dock project, the downtown business community was consulted and informed of what the construction process would entail. Now that the project is well underway, we hear the frustration, which is an understandable part of any infrastructure rebuilding process.
The Mayor, City Council, City staff, and the teams at Whiting Turner care about the impacts on downtown merchants. That is why we are pushing the project forward with such intensity. It’s also why we added 165 additional parking spaces at the rebuilt Hillman Garage (about 500 feet from Market Space). It’s why Whiting Turner has brought in additional crews.
MARCH 7, 2026
City of Annapolis Receives More than $33M in Promised Federal FEMA Grant Funding
On Friday, Mayor Jared Littmann and the Annapolis City Council announced a major federal funding milestone for the City Dock Flood Mitigation and Resiliency Project. After years of coordination and partnership with the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has signed off on a $35.5million Hazard Mitigation Grant to fund critical infrastructure to protect and redevelop the Annapolis City Dock.
The funding was announced during a Friday press conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvV28QCkqpU
The City of Annapolis team that worked on this grant, as well as securing both State and Local funds, included the Office of Emergency Management, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Planning and Zoning, and the Mayor’s Office. This project is urgently needed: in 2024 alone, the City recorded 120 flood events, double the previous record, highlighting the increase in flooding over recent decades, with the heart of downtown Annapolis bearing the brunt of direct losses.
An elevated and resilient City Dock, designed to reduce the impacts of tidal and storm surge flood events.
A series of mechanical and floating flood barriers around the perimeter of Ego Alley.
A new, raised waterfront park with open lawn, native landscaping and shade.
Flexible and programmable public space for festivals, markets, and events.
