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Climate Change Adaptation Planning &
Massachusetts Policy Updates
Massachusetts Association of Planning Directors Annual Conference, Amherst, MA
June 5, 2014
E. Heidi Ricci, Mass Audubon
Shaping the Future of Your Community Program
Working in the state’s fastest developing regions to provide community leaders and concerned citizens with tools and support to chart a more sustainable future
www.massaudubon.org/shapingthefuture
Climate Change and Adaptation Planning for Community Resiliency
• Climate Changes in the Northeast – Impacts
• Landscape-level Planning for Resiliency
• Infrastructure – Opportunities to Improve Resiliency
• Building More Sustainably – Conservation Design, LID
Predicted Northeast Climate Change Impacts
2014 National Climate Assessment
• Climate change is already affecting the American people in far-reaching ways… extreme weather events … have become more frequent and/or intense, including prolonged periods of heat, heavy downpours, and, in some regions, floods and droughts…These and other aspects of climate change are disrupting people’s lives and damaging some sectors of our economy.
Impacts of Climate Change
• Natural Resources and Habitat – Forests stressed by drought, insects, diseases;
loss of fish, increase in pollution and toxic algal blooms
• Human Health and Welfare: – Heat, air quality, mosquito-borne disease,
flooding
• Key Infrastructure – Roads, water and wastewater plants vulnerable
to flooding
• Local Economy (including Government, Land Use) – Costs of constant rebuilding, choices in land use
• Coastal Zone and Oceans – Barrier beaches and salt marshes inundated,
lobster and other cold water fisheries impacted
Adaptation
• ADAPTATION means increasing resiliency and reducing vulnerability of our natural and built systems, and better preparing our response capabilities
Bill S.2028 An Act providing for the establishment of a comprehensive adaptation management plan [CAMP] in response to climate change
Urban Climate Change Governance Survey
350 cities participated in the survey 73% are conducting both adaptation and mitigation planning 75% report that climate change is being mainstreamed into planning across their local government 56% have mitigation targets and actions address community as well as local government emissions 21% - mitigation efforts have significantly contributed to other local development priorities Key barriers: • Insufficient funding for implementation or staff • Difficulty mainstreaming climate change and coordinating collaborative action across silos • Lack of information on local impacts and responses
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability www.urbanclimatesurvey.com
Image credit: U.S. Global Change Research Program (www.globalchange.gov).
Climate Change Paradox
More Floods More Droughts
Mass Rivers Alliance 2009
Westfield River Housatonic River
Resiliency
“A Resilient City is one that has developed capacities to help absorb future shocks and stresses to its social, economic, and technical systems and infrastructures so as to still be able to maintain essentially the same functions, structures, systems, and identity.”
Source: ResilientCity.org
Land Use and Resiliency
• Natural landscapes provide free protective services – “nature’s defenses” • Forests and wetlands: absorb water, decrease flooding and recharge our drinking water. • Coastal and inland upland buffers reduce storm impacts • Compact development and land conservation keeps forested and natural (carbon absorbing) lands intact • Massachusetts’ forests are sequestering 12% of our annual carbon emissions. An acre of forest holds 85 tons of carbon • Trees provide shade, reduce urban heat islands. LID/bioretention in built areas – multiple benefits
Landscape Planning
• Protect highly resilient lands
• Concentrate development away from vulnerable areas
• Align local plans and zoning
• Look beyond parcel and municipal boundaries
TNC Resilient Lands (Losing Ground 2014
Prioritize Protection: Important habitat and Green Infrastructure Prioritize Development: Concentrate near infrastructure and away from important natural resources
Planning Ahead for Growth and Development
Regional Plans – Toolkit for Implementing • Priority Protection Areas • Priority Development Areas www.massaudubon.org/495Toolkit
Resiliency and the Built Environment
10 years
10 years
10 years
10 years
10 + years
Estimate for Stream Crossing Span:
Cost of Two Replacements in 6 years:
$130k
$300-400k
Comparison of Estimated Crossing Lifespan and Costs
River process slides courtesy Carrie Banks, MA Division of Ecological Restoration
Remove Obsolete, Hazardous Dams
Whittenton Dam, Taunton - DER
Taunton River after dam removal – H. Ricci
Benefits of Green Infrastructure and LID
• Environmental • Aesthetics and market value • Avoided costs • Meeting regulatory requirements • Adapting to Climate Change
Gap in water infrastructure funding over next 20 years, Water Infrastructure Finance Commission, 2012. Slide by Martin Pillsbury, MAPC
Mosquitoes and Stormwater
Stormwater catch basins and detention ponds are prime mosquito breeding habitat Low Impact Development does not harbor mosquitoes
• Lower infrastructure costs – less roads, stormwater management
• Reduced clearing and grading • Protect water supplies • Prevent flood damage, protect wetland
buffers and floodplains • Protect forests and farmlands • Provide open space and trails for people and
nature
• Support high quality of life and property values
Benefits of Reducing Sprawl & Protecting Natural Green Infrastructure
http://www.apa-ma.org/resources/publications/nrb-guidebook
Subdivision Regulations – Low Impact Development
LIDAR mapping, other technical support Regulatory incentives e.g. Water Management Act
Division of Ecological Restoration
Pending Legislation: Comprehensive Adaptation and Management Plan
Environmental Bond Water Infrastructure Finance bill
State Support for Adaptation Planning and Green Infrastructure
