Foundations for a Practical Approach to Considering Sea-Level Rise in Coastal Projects

Abstract 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. Fortunately, our ability to understand future condition...

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Veröffentlicht in:Marine Technology Society journal 2021-07, Vol.55 (4), p.47-55
Hauptverfasser: Collini, Renee C., Smallegan, Stephanie M.
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Abstract 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. Fortunately, our ability to understand future conditions and how they may exacerbate hazards has been rapidly increasing. Unfortunately, this rapid advancement in the science has led to gaps among the generation, access, and application of information for coastal decision making. 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. The professional community lacks transparent, repeatable, science-based approaches that utilize existing tools for determining how much SLR to consider while also specifically integrating 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. This paper reviews how to access locally relevant SLR projections, a risk-based framework for how to narrow down the available projections to a planning range, and how that information can be translated into relevant information about future conditions. Examples from projects in Jackson County, MS, and Dauphin Island, AL, are used to demonstrate how relative SLR can be integrated into projects across timelines while considering adaptability and scale. Finally, key limitations, such as aging information and complexities of risk tolerance, are described.
ISSN:0025-3324
1948-1209
DOI:10.4031/MTSJ.55.4.1