The Resilience Roundup highlights announcements, events, and funding opportunities along with links to the previous month's local, state, and national resilience news.
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Resilient Connecticut Project Updates |
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November 20th Resilient Connecticut Virtual Summit a Success!
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Over 250 people registered for the second Resilient Connecticut Summit that drew a diverse audience from municipalities, state and federal agencies, COGs, consultants, academics and interested public. Remarks from U.S. Senator Chris Murphy highlighted the importance and urgency of enacting climate mitigation and adaptation strategies from municipal to national levels. Professor Barry Hill’s keynote presentation provided thought-provoking insights on the relationship between environmental justice and climate justice and how attorney generals in climate change cases are seeking to address these issues. During Summit presentations, Slido was used for polling and participants could choose between one of three breakout sessions to hear from diverse speakers and ask questions on the following topics:
- Resilience Planning: Challenges, Opportunities and Interconnections
- Building Technical Capacity and Tools for Municipal Resilience
- State Climate Adaptation Policy and Implementation
See the Summit website for links to presentations, Senator Murphy's remarks, and videos from the event that are now available on CIRCA's YouTube page. Consider subscribing to this YouTube page as an early Christmas present...
Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday season!
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Notice of Meetings of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3)
The Connecticut Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3) Working Group reports are now finalized and being turned into near term action plans. The GC3 Mitigation and Adaptation & Resilience Subcommittees will convene in early December to review recommendations in the Working Group reports and determine which recommendations will be included in the January 2021 Phase I GC3 Report. The full GC3 will then convene on December 18, to review the progress of the Subcommittees. Registration is required and meetings will be conducted on the Zoom platform in accordance with social distancing guidelines.
GC3 Adaption & Resilience Subcommittee
December 7, 2020
2:30 pm - 5:00 pm
GC3 Mitigation Subcommittee
December 14, 2020
2:00 pm - 4:30 pm
GC3 Meeting
December 18, 2020
9:00 am - 11:00 am
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CAFM’s 7th Annual Conference
December 8, 9, and 10
The Connecticut Association of Flood Managers (CAFM) will convene its seventh Annual Conference and Meeting. This event will be held virtually in three 2- 1/2 hour sessions over three days: December 8, 9, and 10, featuring approximately four 30-minute presentations per day. Yaprak Onat, CIRCA's Assistant Director of Research, will present on Dec. 8th from 10:30 - 11:00 on the topic, "Development of a high resolution Long Island Sound model to estimate annual exceedance probabilities of storms". CAFM invites you to share your experiences as municipal and state officials, industry leaders, consultants, and other interested parties to promote a more resilient Connecticut.
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EBC Climate Change Webinar: The Option of a Boston Harbor Regional “Layered Defense” Coastal Resilience System
December 10, 2020 9:00 am – 12:30 pm
This EBC Climate Change webinar will focus on the existential threat of coastal flooding to the fifteen cities and towns that flood throughout Boston Harbor. The webinar will include a discussion of the need for a comprehensive regional solution that integrates local land-based infrastructure designed to protect low lying areas from sea level rise. The review of a regional solution will include the concept of a regional harbor-wide sea gate system designed to address the devastation caused by storm surge.
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Massachusetts Envirothon Webinar - Soil Conservation Best Management Practices to Build Resilience and Protect Water Quality
December 10, 2020 4:00 pm
Cover crops, no-till agriculture, rotational grazing, streamside buffers and many other practices capture carbon to build the soil, reduce pollution to our waters, and build resilience to intense weather from climate change. Project Drawdown says Conservation Agriculture could sequester over 9 gigatons of carbon dioxide in the next 30 years - join this Envirothon webinar to learn more!
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Rutgers NJ Climate Change Resource Center Webinar: New York's Comprehensive State and Local Climate Resilience Program
December 14, 2020 12:00 pm
Join Mark Lowery of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's Office of Climate Change and Barbara Kendall, New York Department of State’s Office of Planning, Development and Community Infrastructure for a primer on new guidance and standards for flood risk management, infrastructure siting and design guidelines and model local laws under New York's Community Risk and Resilience Act.
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Maine’s Governor Mills Welcomes Plan to Combat Climate Change
On December 1st, the Maine Climate Council released Maine Won’t Wait, the new four-year climate action plan that includes actions the state will take to protect Maine people and communities and spur economic growth in the fight against climate change. Maine’s Governor Mills and the state’s Legislature enacted bipartisan legislation in 2019 that created the Maine Climate Council (an assembly of scientists, industry leaders, bipartisan local and state elected officials, and engaged citizens) to develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality in Maine by 2045. More reading and listening can be found at the following links - with the Livestream featuring Secretary Kerry, incoming Presidential Envoy for Climate:
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FEMA's $660 Million Grant Application Process
FEMA opened the application period for two competitive hazard mitigation grant programs totaling $660 million. The two grant programs, the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant (or BRIC) will provide funds to states, tribes, territories and local communities for eligible mitigation activities. The new BRIC grant is for pre-disaster mitigation activities and replaces FEMA’s existing Pre-Disaster Mitigation program. This year, $500 million is available for pre-disaster mitigation activities, including a $20 million tribal set-aside. BRIC priorities incentivize public infrastructure projects; projects that mitigate risk to community lifelines; projects that incorporate nature-based solutions; and the adoption and enforcement of modern building codes. Both grant applications are open from Sept. 30 – Jan. 21, 2021. Eligible applicants should apply using the FEMA Grants Outcome (FEMA GO).
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Energy Efficiency Improvements at UConn - Avery Point
A recent partnership involving UConn, Eversource, and Groton Utilities focused on improving the energy efficiency and sustainability of the UConn Avery Point campus. The project involved reducing natural gas consumption and cutting carbon emissions by 300 tons annually. As part of the project wrap-up, Eversource and UConn collaborated on a promotional video to highlight the benefits of this initiative. The video feature’s several Avery Point faculty and staff, including CIRCA’s Executive Director and UConn Professor of Marine Sciences Jim O’Donnell, who comments on the importance of the University’s commitment to reducing CO2 emissions and goals for carbon neutrality.
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Mitigate Your Risk with the FEMA Mobile App
FEMA's Mobile App has introduced a new "Mitigate Your Risk" section, featuring no-cost or low cost do-it-yourself mitigation activities that can save property owners money and mitigate risk. This App also features real-time weather alerts from the National Weather Service, location of open emergency shelters and disaster recovery centers in your area, customizable emergency checklists, emergency safety tips for over twenty types of disasters, and application for disaster assistance or starting a flood insurance claim online. The App can be downloaded from FEMA through the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
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CT DEEP's Living Shorelines Storymap
Living shorelines are a low-impact, "soft" approach to the traditional "hard" shoreline protection that integrates natural coastal features. Connecticut General Statutes Section 22a-363h passed in 2012 enabled the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to establish and provide technical support for a pilot program to encourage implementation of living shorelines with the principal function of maintaining or restoring coastal resources and habitat as innovative, low-impact approaches to shoreline protection and adaptation to sea level rise. DEEP has developed a story map to learn more about living shoreline projects that the agency has advanced since this pilot program was initiated and demonstrates different living shorelines techniques.
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NOAA Sea Level Rise Viewer Updated
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GIS Toolbox for Estimating Wave Attenuation by Coastal Marshes
A new free GIS toolbox that estimates and maps the wave reduction intensity provided by marshes, makes it easier to evaluate marshes for coastal protection. NOAA-funded researchers at Louisiana State University and the University of South Carolina recently created this easy to use, free, GIS-based Wave ATTEnuation Toolbox (WATTE) and an associated journal article in Environmental Modelling and Software that helps users understand the past, present, and future wave attenuation of their coastal marshes. WATTE provides an initial evaluation of wave attenuation that helps determine when restoring or installing a marsh warrants consideration.
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State and Regional News Clips |
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Warming May Make Hurricanes Weaken More Slowly After Landfall
The New York Times - November 11, 2020
In studying the effects of climate change on hurricanes, scientists have focused on what occurs over water, when storms are forming and strengthening, picking up heat and moisture as they churn over the ocean. But a new study looks at what happens after hurricanes make landfall and work their way inland. The research suggests that climate change is affecting storms during this phase as well, causing them to weaken more slowly and remain destructive for longer.
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What Climate Change Means For Maine’s Farms And Forests
Bangor Daily News - November 15, 2020
Climate change has lengthened Maine’s growing season by two weeks on average over the last century, a trend that’s expected to continue as temperatures increase. Meanwhile, weather events such as rain and wind storms are increasing as well, and new forest and agricultural pests are gaining more of a foothold in the state. To unpack what climate change means for Maine farms and forests, the Bangor Daily News hosted a virtual event on Nov. 12, bringing together four experts to share their work on the topic.
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Teens Fight For New Climate Change Curriculum In MA Schools
Cape and Islands Public Radio - November 24, 2020
The new Massachusetts Climate Education Organization brought together 100 students from 10 schools for the first-ever Cape and Islands Youth Climate Action Summit. Students were recruited statewide - from urban areas to suburbs, from public schools and private schools. They’re now working together to convince Massachusetts lawmakers to pass legislation that would require all of the state’s schoolchildren, from kindergarteners through 12th grade, to learn about climate change, climate justice, and environmental racism.
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Southern Maine Coastal Towns Get Help To Address Sea Level Rise
Seacoastonline - November 27, 2020
SACO, Maine — Ten coastal Maine municipalities will become more resilient as a result of a new program funded by the National Coastal Resilience Fund. Scarborough, Kittery, York, Ogunquit, Wells, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach, Biddeford and Saco will collaborate with local land trusts, regional conservation organizations and state natural resource agencies to better strategize and prepare for storm and sea level rise impacts.
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NASA Prepares To Launch Sentinel-6 Satellite To Study Sea Level Rise
Digital Trends - November 8, 2020
NASA prepared for the launch of its newest spacecraft, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite built in a joint mission with the European Space Agency (ESA). The Sentinel-6 will monitor changes in sea levels which are a key and potentially devastating indicator of climate change, a task which can be most efficiently accomplished from orbit. The launch of the Sentinel-6 is scheduled for November 21, with final preparations underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
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Sand For Beach Replenishment Projects In SC and Southeast Is Becoming Scarcer
The Post and Courier - November 8, 2020
The sand needed to rebuild beaches along South Carolina and other parts of the Southeast will become scarcer over the next 50 years and there may be shortages, an analysis done for the Army Corps of Engineers says. Some areas today haven’t found enough sand to fill their need. The report, by Florida-based firm Taylor Engineering for the Corps, found dire shortages as it counted known “borrow areas” where sand can be harvested for the next five decades of beach renourishment projects.
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House Passes Ruppersberger's Bill To Help Coastal Communities Prepare For Storms, Floods
Ruppersberger - November 16, 2020
(Washington, DC) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation authored by Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) and cosponsored by Congressman Don Young (R-AK) that will help local and state governments protect the country’s 95,000 miles of shoreline. The Digital Coast Act will now be considered by the U.S. Senate, which already passed the legislation before technical changes were made. The Digital Coast Act creates a new program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, allowing NOAA to begin a comprehensive mapping process of the nation’s shorelines.
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NFWF And NOAA Announce More Than $37 Million In Grants To Support Coastal Resilience Efforts Across The Nation
Yahoo News - November 17, 2020
WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and NOAA today announced more than $37 million in new grants from the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF) that will support coastal resilience projects in 25 states and U.S. territories. The 46 grants announced today will generate $55 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $92 million. The NCRF grants will contribute to the restoration or enhancement of natural features such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, mangroves, forests, coastal rivers and barrier islands.
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Floods, Fires, And Hurricanes:
Steps Every Community Should Take To Be More Resilient
Bloomberg Law - November 20, 2020
Many communities have experienced the destruction of tropical storms and hurricanes, drought, wildfires, and similar “Acts of God" along with daily disruptions such as king tides, nuisance flooding, and retreating shorelines. Communities can become more resilient to these impacts through municipal codes and land use reforms, infrastructure upgrades, and grantsmaking. Real estate and land use attorney Patrick W. Krechowski of Balch & Bingham LLP explains steps to take.
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The Resilience Roundup highlights CIRCA's presence in the news, provides links to recent local/state/national news articles related to resilience and adaptation, and announces upcoming events and seminars.
The Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation's (CIRCA) mission is to increase the resilience and sustainability of vulnerable communities along Connecticut's coast and inland waterways to the growing impacts of climate change and extreme weather on the natural, built, and human environment. The institute is located at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus and includes faculty from across the university. CIRCA is a partnership between UConn and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP).
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State and Regional News Clips |
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