Experts Converge at the Groton Coastal Climate Adaptation Workshop

Groton, CT, must plan for sea-level rise up to 78 inches.

It’s not often that one finds federal, state and local government representatives in the same room. But at yesterday’s Coastal Climate Adaptation Workshop in Groton, CT, 75 participants found common cause around the issue of how to work together to prepare for rising seas and other climate impacts.

The workshop was the first in a series of three sponsored by ICLEI, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and the EPA. The aim of the first workshop was to update participants on foreseeable impacts to Groton and the Northeast seaboard and to discuss how to anticipate the spiral of ramifications that projected impacts could set in motion.

Groton, for instance, could experience a 13--24 inch sea-level rise by 2100 under the low-emissions model and 13-78 inches in a worst-case scenario. This projection triggers a number of critical planning concerns, including the City’s own acquisition/retention of coastal property and wetlands and the need, from a social and revenue-protection perspective, to prevent catastrophic damage to private property.

The uncertainty of local impacts also calls for better communication between scientists and policymakers. In his presentation, Ben Guiterrez from the U.S. Geological Survey quoted from a 2009 report by the National Research Council:

Scientific priorities and practices need to change so that the scientific community can provide better support to decision makers in managing emerging climate risk. Decision makers must expect to be surprised because of the nature of the climate change and the incompleteness of scientific understanding of its consequences.

Janet Freedman, with the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, shared Rhode Island's experience in adaptation planning. Rhode Island’s initial focus is on the prospect of heavier storms, because the issue of storm damage resonates with stakeholders all too familiar with the problem. Rhode Island is encouraging coastal property owners to raise freeboards (the distance between the structure and the water at high tide) to at least three to five feet.

Other workshop participants included representatives from NOAA, FEMA, the Federal Highway Administration, the Connecticut Department of Transportation, Groton Town Manager Mark Oefinger, Groton Director of Planning and Development Michael Murphy and staff from the Groton airport. Participants found particularly valuable the breakout sessions which led them to ponder pragmatic as well as existential questions, such as:

• What’s being done to prepare for climate impacts?
• What’s not being done but should be?
• How could local climate impacts change my job description?

Future workshops in March and April will focus on responding to the local vulnerabilities identified during the first workshop and creating a plan for implementing adaptation measures. Throughout the workshops, the importance of bridging the gap between the three levels of government and between scientists and policymakers will be stressed.  Ultimately, ICLEI’s objective is to facilitate the creation of a collaborative, intergovernmental approach to increasing Groton’s resilience in the face of climate change, creating a model that is replicable in other regions.