Marion and Mattapoisett will receive $20,000 and $16,000 respectively in state funding for climate vulnerability preparedness.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced more than $1 million in grant funding and designation status to 71 communities across the commonwealth.

The towns applied for the grant and were announced as winners on June 9.

Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson said the next step would be figuring out how to use it.

“Now it’s a question of getting folks together and formulating a plan to help us get some of the work done,” he said.

Dawson said he was looking at it as a way to examine the infrastructure in town, particularly that closest to the water.

“One example would be Sippican Harbor, which routinely overtops during high tide and comes into the village area,” he said. “We’re going to be looking at infrastructure around the water and predict how that might change over time.”

The money won’t necessarily go toward one specific construction project, but more to coming up with a plan to deal with future challenges due to climate change.

“It’s really just helping us to identify what the potential impact of climate change might be, how it might affect our roadways and infrastructure and how we’ll plan for that,” Dawson said.

The new grant and designation program will provide communities with technical support, climate change data and planning tools to identify hazards and develop strategies to improve resilience. The grant awardees, announced by Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton during a tour of the Wareham coastline, represent 20 percent of the state’s municipalities.

As part of the program, municipalities will work through a community-based workshop process to identify key climate-related hazards, vulnerabilities and strengths, develop adaptation actions, and prioritize next steps. Results of the workshops and planning efforts will be used to inform existing local plans, grant applications, budgets, and policies. One area of focus will be using the process to update or develop local hazard mitigation plans.

The program is funded through the Five-Year Capital Plan.