Finding opportunities to plan for a changing climate

1. Finding opportunities to plan for a changing climate

2. Need a little help from you

3. How do you plan for climate change? So many questions… ? ? ? Who do I include? ? ? Who is responsible for planning? ? ? How do I implement? ? ? ? How do I adapt? ? ? ?

4. Take Homes… • Shape your community to be flexible • Use vulnerability assessment to help set priorities • Capitalize on what’s already going on in planning • Look for mutual benefits • Learn from others

5. Why not just reduce our greenhouse gases? Why adaptation? • Past events should not be used as the only indicator of future events • Anticipate more extremes and variability • We have already set these changes in motion

6. How do you plan for a changing climate?

7. By looking for ways to increaseyour ability to • Changeand • cope with your environment

8. Adaptation planning…like any traditional planning process Establish planning process Design a plan implementation and maintenance process Create an adaptation strategy Assess vulnerabilities to hazards

9. Consideration #1 Establish your planning process.

10. Designing your planning process • What’s your target? • Is a standalone planning process necessary? • Or can you work with ongoing planning activities? • What are your current capabilities and resources? • Who’s on the team and why?

11. Consideration #2 Prioritize what’s threatening and impacting your community.

12. Identify and prioritize threats and impacts to your community • What hazards are threatening you? • How will a changing climate impact those hazards? • What and who will be impacted? • What will those impacts look like? • Which ones can you do something about?

13. Moving forward with uncertainty Design your planning process so that you can insert new information when it becomes available and helps guide your adaptation decisions

14. Consideration #3 Increase participation.

15. Engage people who: • Are part of the decisions being made • Will be impacted • Are champions • Provide data, local knowledge, expertise

16. Name one key person who should be part of your planning discussions.Why?

17. Consideration #4 Look for mutually beneficial approaches to adaptation.

18. What’s the problem? • Climate projections and trends indicate • Increased winter and spring rain • Increased peak runoff in winter and spring • Land use decisions • Trends show that undeveloped and agricultural lands will be converted to hard, impervious surfaces

19. What does that mean? = more water for us to manage

20. What issues does that create in our community? Natural resources Water quality Infrastructure Public safety Budget $$$$$

21. How do we lessen the impacts? • Use nature’s resources • Green Infrastructure • Promotes land useand land protection

22. Green Infrastructure Planning • Large scale • Gray and green are interconnected into a network • Community consists of open space, conserved lands, built environment together

23. Flood control • Natural, undeveloped floodplains • Absorb flood waters • Reduce flooding and runoff • Provide water quality services

24. Installing green roofs, streets • Vegetation planted on roofs • Use plants to landscape streets • Absorb and lessen stormwater runoff • Complements existing built infrastructure

25. Ideas for implementing green infrastructure • Vacant parcels • Degraded natural areas (wetlands) • Undeveloped lands • Floodplains • Education program to homeowners on rain barrels • Start small, consider a pilot project

26. Who’s using these approaches? • Portland, OR • Milwaukee, WI • Cecil County, MD • Nashville, TN • Charleston, SC

27. Consideration #5 Look for opportunities in existing plans, policies, and activities to implement adaptation strategies.

28. Build on existing mechanisms Stormwater management Natural Resource Management Transportation Economic Development Planning & Zoning Public Safety

29. For example… Public utilities and services profile Approximately 55% of the City of Duluth’s sanitary sewer system was installed prior to 1950, with 35% of the system over 80 years old. Almost 65% of the system is vitrified clay pipe – which having served well for its expected life span, is also experiencing advanced deterioration and failure.

30. Options for prioritizing adaptation strategies • No regrets options • Water conservation program • Win-win options • Preserving wetlands provides critical habitat and flood protection • Low regrets options • Limiting development in high risk areas helps reduce future damages and costs • Flexible adaptation options • Living shorelines

31. What are some existing activities you can build on to increase your resilience to climate change?

32. Consideration #6 Monitor progress, changes, and how well you are adapting.

33. Take Homes… • Shape your community to be flexible • Use vulnerability assessment to help set priorities • Capitalize on what’s already going on in planning • Look for mutual benefits • Learn from others

34. Questions and Discussion Thank you for the discussion! Tashya Allen tashya.allen@noaa.gov 843.740.1321