Berms, Floodwalls, and Dunes - How High? Considering sea-level rise in coastal projects

摘要

Sea-level rise (SLR) is a hazard multiplier already impacting coastal communities and ecosystems across all sectors including transportation, utilities, health, community planning, emergency management, and natural resource management [1]. Fortunately, our ability to understand future conditions and how they may exacerbate hazards has been rapidly increasing (e.g., [1]–[5]). Unfortunately, this rapid advancement in the science has led to gaps among the generation, access, and application of information for coastal decision-making [6]–[8]. Coastal professionals including engineers, environmental consultants, floodplain managers, and natural resource stewards are often challenged when it comes to integrating SLR into planning and project design [6], [7], [9], [9]–[11]. The professional community lacks transparent, repeatable, science-based approaches for determining how much SLR to consider that also specifically integrate the community’s values. Further, related data and data products such as where to find locally relevant projections of future conditions and impacts remain woefully underutilized [7], [8]. This presentation will review the availability of locally-relevant SLR projections, a risk-based framework for how to narrow the available projections to a planning range, and how that information can be translated into relevant information about future conditions. The presentation will also demonstrate how the selected amount of RSLR for a project can be translated into relevant information about future conditions that could potentially impact the project. This includes how to assess future areas regularly inundated by high tide, frequency of high tide flooding in the future, and projections of future storm surge. Finally, examples from projects in Jackson County, MS and Dauphin Island, AL will be used to demonstrate how RSLR can be integrated into projects across timelines while considering adaptability and scale. At the conclusion of this presentation, attendees will understand how to find and integrate RSLR projections to enhance coastal resilience for more robust communities and ecosystems.