Improving Coastal Resilience in the Northeast
Channel: eesionline
Date: 2019-10-23

https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/102319northeast

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing on initiatives and partnerships that are helping protect Northeast shorelines and communities from extreme weather events and other coastal hazards. The briefing showcased nature-based solutions that support coastal resilience for wilderness areas, small communities, and large cities such as New York City. Nature-based solutions can protect human lives and property while creating habitat for wildlife and providing co-benefits like water filtration. These techniques can also be paired with traditional “gray” infrastructure to meet a greater variety of planning needs.

Speakers: 

    Sara Burns
    Water Resource Scientist, The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
    Download Slides: https://www.eesi.org/files/Sara_Burns_102319.pdf
    Skip to presentation: https://youtu.be/7sMEfeZFQWw?t=3m58s

    Kate Boicourt
    Director of Resilience, Waterfront Alliance
    Download Slides: https://www.eesi.org/files/Kate_Boicourt__102319.pdf
    Skip to presentation: https://youtu.be/7sMEfeZFQWw?t=20m36s

    Sam Belknap
    Community Development Officer, Sea Level Rise Project Lead, The Island Institute
    Download Slides: https://www.eesi.org/files/Sam_Belknap_102319.pdf
    Skip to presentation: https://youtu.be/7sMEfeZFQWw?t=35m24s

    Question & Answer Session
    https://youtu.be/7sMEfeZFQWw?t=51m15s

Much coastal restoration work involves multiple agencies at the local, state, and federal level, often working in conjunction with nonprofits and businesses across state and district lines. The panelists described this collaborative process and how buy-in for nature-based resilience projects can be achieved across diverse and sometimes competing interests.

Ms. Boicourt discussed the Alliance’s collaborative work with over 400 business, government, and civic partners to build consensus around a resilience policy platform for the New York Metropolitan area and beyond.

Ms. Burns discussed the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, which helps communities develop action-oriented resiliency plans and provides grants to implement those plans.

Many of the more than 120 coastal and island communities along Maine's 5,000-mile coastline are small, isolated, and vulnerable to sea level rise and climate change impacts on the lobster fishery. Mr. Belknap discussed action being taken to improve infrastructure and community resiliency for these communities and the rural working waterfronts on the Gulf of Maine.

The Northeast faces a diverse set of coastal challenges, including coastal erosion, threats from storms such as Hurricane Sandy, and heavy property development. However, inventive collaborative projects developed in the Northeast can prove a model for other regions experiencing similar issues.

The briefing provided specific project examples to protect both homes and industry and the legislation and policies developed at the federal level to help those projects succeed, along with suggestions for further Congressional opportunities to support long-term sustainability of the country’s coastal infrastructure.