Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Preparedness Planning in Cambridge, MA by Susanne Rasmussen Director of Environmental &Transporta9on Planning City of Cambridge at Massachuse@s Sustainable Communi9es Conference Worcester, MA April 24, 2013
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and
Preparedness Planning in Cambridge, MA
by
Susanne Rasmussen Director of Environmental &Transporta9on Planning
City of Cambridge at
Massachuse@s Sustainable Communi9es Conference Worcester, MA April 24, 2013
§ Climate Ac9on Plan adopted by City Council late 2002
§ Focus on mi9ga9on
§ Climate Protec9on Advisory Commi@ee , represen9ng residents, business and universi9es, recommends adding adap9on focus in 2010
Mi=ga=on vs Adap=on?
Key Recommenda=ons • Some degree of climate change is unavoidable • Cambridge is vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge flooding
• Climate change can cause a wide range of public health impacts
• Impacts to water supply, food supply, energy system reliability, surface water quality, and transporta9on are expected
• Physical impacts can lead to social and economic impacts
• It is important to start planning now
Temperature
Precipita9on Sea level rise
Extreme weather
Vulnerability: Key Concerns
Es9mated flooding on Oct. 29th
If surge had hit at high 9de Oct 29th
Surge at high 9de + 2.5 e SLR
Star=ng the Process
• Funding included in FY13 budget for vulnerability assessment and adapta9on plan
• RFP process to find consultant team with exper9se in climate change modeling and impact analysis
• Kleinfelder, Cambridge-‐based engineering firm with addi9onal experts in scenario development, risk modeling, public health, economic impacts and stakeholder engagement
1. Vulnerability Assessment (2012-‐2013) • Provide technical and scien9fic informa9on for assessing risk and vulnerability
• Iden9fy priority planning areas • Establish stakeholder engagement processes
2. Preparedness Planning (2014-‐2015) • Iden9fy measures to prepare for changes likely to occur from climate change
• Adopt implementa9on measures
Two stage process
Vulnerability Assessment Process
1. Climate Scenarios 2. Impact analyses • Infrastructure and buildings • Public health • Economic • Urban forest
Sensi=vity • Sensi9vity = Degree to which a built, natural, or human system is directly or indirectly affected by changes in climate condi9ons or specific climate change impacts.
• Example: A building without air condi9oning and housing elderly residents is highly sensi9ve to increased temperatures.
Adap=ve Capacity
• Adap9ve Capacity = The degree of built, natural, or human systems to accommodate changes in climate with minimal poten9al damage or cost, or to take advantage of opportuni9es presented by climate change.
• Example: Electrical systems fi@ed with equipment that is salt resistance have higher adap9ve capacity in terms of responding to flooding from the ocean.
6 members, climate experts from Harvard, MIT and BU • Small, highly technical mee9ngs • Key responsibili9es • Review technical approach by project team and give guidance/input on scenario development, modeling
• Lend credibility to study, basis for preparedness plan • LOTS of feedback already on: • Uncertainty of climate models and the challenges in downscaling an9cipated impacts
• Value of building on lessons from elsewhere, for example Hurricane Sandy, and use of “war gaming”
Expert Advisory Panel
• 16 members represen9ng key stakeholder groups (agencies, ins9tu9ons, businesses, residents, etc.)
• These mee9ngs will be somewhat technical • Key responsibili9es • To learn about the project • To share informa9on with technical team • To act as liaisons to their organiza9ons and agencies
• Also engaging with the City of Boston, e.g. Boston Water and Sewer Commission’s 25-‐year asset management plan
Technical Advisory CommiRee
• 3 Public Workshops (evenings or weekends) • Intent is to get 50-‐100 people to a@end, seeking wide par9cipa9on through many outreach strategies
• Designed so people can talk to each other • Key expecta9ons: • Provide input, local knowledge • Share perspec9ves on early work • Act as liaisons into the community about the project
• Hurricane Sandy greatly increased the public’s interest in preparedness planning
Public Workshops
• A@ending mee9ngs of neighborhood, business and interest groups
• Project website, listserv • Focus groups as needed • Surveys • CHALLENGES: • High degree of uncertainty • Poten9al impact are scary • But, not happening right now • Need to learn how to engage public as we go along
Other Engagement Strategies
Q & A
• For more informa9on: h@p://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Climate/climatechangeresilianceandadapta9on.aspx