Infrastructure protectionConnecticut preparing for sea level rise, adapting to climate change

Chart projects land mass lost in Connecticut // Source: nasa.gov

Earlier this year the University of Connecticut announced the creation of the Institute for Community Resiliency and Climate Adaptation. The institute, located at UConn’s Avery Point Campus in Groton, is a collaboration between the University, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A UConn release notes that the Institute is designed to increase the resilience and sustainability of vulnerable communities and individuals along Connecticut’s coast and inland waterways as they are affected by the growing impact of climate change on the environment. UConn says that by bringing together experts in a wide range of academic disciplines and by developing cutting-edge research to solve practical problems, the UConn/DEEP/NOAA partnership will facilitate development of strategic plans for protecting the state’s coastal region.

Emergency Management reports that devastating encounters with storms including Hurricane Sandy and Irene, led State Representative James M. Albis, chairman of the General Assembly’s Shoreline Preservation Task Force, to proposed the institute two years ago. James O’Donnell, executive director of the institute and professor of marine sciences at UCONN, predicts that severe storms will become more frequent and the institute will be tasked with developing solutions for building sustainable communities.

Albis notes that municipalities are underprepared to deal with climate change, so through a series of workshops planned for this year, the institute will serve as a resource to educate community leaders and stakeholders about their options for coastal protection.

One program, the “Climate Adaptation Academy” will work with municipalities and relevant professionals on climate issues, while another program, “The Next Coastal Storm Preparation and Response: Coordinating and Improving Preparedness with Technology,” will discuss with municipal officials, strategies for responding to community needs before, during, and after coastal storms by using Geographic Information Systems to coordinate and manage emergency response systems.

In collaboration with local, regional, and national partners, the Institute will aim to:

• Improve scientific understanding of the changing climate and its local and regional impacts on coastal and inland floodplain communities
• Develop and deploy natural science, engineering, legal, financial, and policy best practices for climate resilience
• Undertake or oversee pilot projects designed to improve resilience and sustainability along Connecticut’s coast and inland waterways
• Create a climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities to a changing climate and uses that knowledge to make scientifically informed, environmentally sound decisions
• Foster resilient and sustainable communities — particularly along the Connecticut coastline and inland waterways – that can adapt to the impacts and hazards of climate change
• Enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure (e.g. power, water, communications)
• Reduce loss of life and property, ecological damage, and social disruption from storms

In his comments during the announcement ceremony, Governor Dannel P. Malloy said that increasingly severe weather events such as Hurricane Sandy have a major impact on the lives of people in the state and on the state’s economy. He cited cooperation between local, state, and federal government entities both in facing the wrath of these storms and in the creation of the Institute.

Malloy said, “This Institute at Avery Point will be a world-class, leading-edge center that harnesses the research and outreach capabilities of UConn and the practical regulatory expertise of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Our vision for this center is for people to roll up their sleeves [and] to have direct and ongoing contact with property owners and community leaders, to make sure that we have the tools and knowledge and financing that they need to make the necessary steps … We are coming together to tackle tough problems and make real differences in our residents’ lives.”

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said that although initial goals for the Institute may sound abstract and academic in nature, its goals are really very basic and fundamental. “It returns us to our roots,” he said. “Doing better, planning smarter, building better structures, is part of Connecticut’s DNA. It’s what we do with Yankee ingenuity, and that is what this Institute will accomplish.”

The release notes that for the first three years, the institute will be funded by a $2.5 million settlement of plea agreement the state won from Unilever Home and Personal Care USA for clean water violations, $610,000 from the Connecticut Sea Grant Coastal Storm Awareness program, and $425,000 from a federal grant to improve coastal resilience in Connecticut.