Infrastructure protectionCalifornia coastal planners protect infrastructure from climate change
California’s coastal planners and resource managers say there is a need to prepare for changes along the coast that might result from rising sea levels and other impacts, such as more floods, loss of beach access, coastal erosion, and potential damage to transportation infrastructure, including highways, roads, and ports
A majority of California’s coastal planners and resource managers now view the threats from climate change as sufficiently likely that practical steps on the ground need to be taken to protect against growing threats, according to results from a new survey.
Survey respondents acknowledge the need to prepare for changes along the coast that might result from rising sea levels and other impacts, such as more floods, loss of beach access, coastal erosion, and potential damage to transportation infrastructure, including highways, roads, and ports.
A California Sea Grant release reports that the new survey — an update on a similar one conducted six years ago — shows a strong uptick in California coastal professionals’ attention to preparing and planning for climate change. Results reveal that managers are ready and willing to develop adaptation strategies, despite tighter belts in most local and state agencies in recent years. Lack of money to prepare and implement plans, however, and insufficient staff and lack of technical know-how are significant challenges.
“Communities are willing to adapt to the reality of climate change, but they are struggling. This is a story that needs to be told when billions of dollars in assets are at risk,” said Susanne Moser, director of Susanne Moser Research & Consulting in Santa Cruz and a research associate at Stanford University’s Center for Ocean Solutions (COS). She worked with colleagues at University of Southern California Sea Grant, California Sea Grant, and the University of California, Berkeley, and an unprecedented collaborative of ten other coastal organizations in California to systematically probe coastal professionals’ knowledge and attitudes toward global warming, their level of preparedness for the future, and the challenges they face in taking action.
The survey shows that 40 percent of coastal professionals who are responsible for protecting natural resources, property, and human safety have begun trying to understand the risks they face, and another 40 percent are actively planning for climate change impacts, such as sea level rise, coastal flooding, and erosion. Yet, only about 10 percent are actually doing things on the ground that may reduce the full brunt of climate change.
“The big take-away from the survey is that coastal managers are knowledgeable and understand the importance of preparing for climate change,” said USC Sea Grant Associate Director Phyllis Grifman, a co-author of the survey report, Rising to the Challenge: Results of the 2011 California Coastal Adaptation Needs Assessment. “And
