Challenges from Coastal Shoreline Retreat: Planning for now and the future.
This webinar hosted by NEWEA’s Watershed Management Committee, will consist of two presentations that will focus on resiliency planning for coastal shorelines. View Flyer >>
THE FIRST PRESENTATION will focus on shoreline erosion, loss of wetlands, rising sea levels, and dimensioning fishery resources along the Dauphin Island Causeway, the sole roadway to the “sunset Capital of Alabama,” as it threatens the way of life of multiple people groups. Learn how diverse groups are coming together to restore the shoreline and improve resilience through the restoration of three miles of living shoreline and nearly 100 acres of marsh habitat.
THE SECOND PRESENTATION will take a look at how building resilience in a changing world, requires an understanding of future risks rather than what has been experienced in the past. Acknowledging this, the Technical Mapping Advisory Council (TMAC) recommended that FEMA reevaluate its approach to mapping erosion hazards and provide future conditions products and information to coastal communities. For these communities, sea level rise (SLR) has the potential to significantly accelerate future shoreline retreat. Shoreline retreat is related to but distinct from the frequently studied hazards related to coastal inundation, and it is important to consider it in coastal planning contexts to adequately assess future risk. To meet this need and apply the TMAC recommendations, FEMA Region I funded a pilot study to estimate long term coastal erosion hazards which incorporate future SLR into the results. This non-regulatory mapping product provides coastal communities with a tool to understand their potential erosion risk in the coming century. Upon successful completion of the pilot study, FEMA has continued the development of these coastal erosion hazard products across over 1500 miles of coastline throughout the Northeast. It is hoped that this study could be further expanded to other areas.
1.0 TCHs will be awarded for participating states (CT / MA / ME / NH )
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