Sea Level Rise and Climate Change Impacts in Coastal Areas: Case Studies from Greater Boston Area

Recent extreme weather events - such as Hurricanes Sandy and Irene and the winter storm, Nemo - have created a keen focus on the link between climate and the resiliency of both the built and natural worlds. This is particularly true for the water/wastewater sector which is impacted on several fronts, including hydrology, supply, demand, water quality issues and supporting infrastructure. The resulting damage incurred by these extreme events often creates an urgency to build against future impacts. However, jumping to adaptation solutions without fully understanding the most critical elements can result in the expenditure of limited funds on less pressing needs. This paper will review lessons learned from recent events and direct project experience to outline an approach to develop meaningful and implementable preparedness plans. Climate Change projects consist of three basic components: (1) climate change projections; (2) vulnerability assessment; and (3) preparedness planning. The vulnerability assessment is crucial to prioritize actions because of the limited funding that will be available to prepare for climate change impacts. This paper will focus on two important aspects of climate change impacts with implications to the water/wastewater infrastructure sector - translating climate change impacts into implementable design criteria and (2) developing a holistic water model that considers combined impacts of coastal, surface water and piped infrastructure flooding. The vulnerability assessment identifies the most at-risk elements which will be the focus of the adaptation plan. The feasibility of each adaptation plan should be judged using a combination of criteria including engineering feasibility, regulatory constraints, economic impacts and synergy with other initiatives