Tampa Bay’s Resiliency to Sea

LevelThe Three Main Challenges to Local Municipalities

Maria BookerSGS CGN 6933

ContentsWhat does resiliency mean? 3Educational Challenges 4The Coastal Zoning Management Program 5What Can We do Locally? 6Definition Challenges 7Coastal Barrier Resources Act 8What Can We Do Locally? 9 Infrastructure Challenges 10National Flood Insurance Program 11What Can We Do Locally 12Conclusion 13References 14

Photo Credit: www.innerauto.com

What Does Resiliency Mean?

“Resilience can be applied to cities. They too need to last, to respond to crises and adapt in a way that may cause them to change and grow differently; cities require an inner strength, a resolve, as well as a strong physical infrastructure and built environment.” (Newman, Beatley, & Boyer, 2009)

Photo Credit: www.beautysnob.com

Educational Challenges “It is difficult to generate

interest in an event, such as sea level rise, which is projected 50 to 100 years in the future, when current hazards such as stormwater flooding, tropical storms, and hurricanes require mitigation and are overwhelming many mitigation planning groups.” (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 2006).

Photo Credit: www.noaa.gov

The Coastal Zoning Management Program

• Voluntary• National Program• Provides Grants• Defines coastal boundaries

Photo Credit: www.tripadvisor.com

What Can We Do Locally?

Prevent new construction in coastal areas

Mandate building codes on existing construction in coastal areas

Increase taxes and insurance in coastal areas to increase shore protection and adaptation funds.

Photo Credit: www.getfrank.co.nz

Definition Challenges“Existing land use data formats may not be

complete enough to be able to identify a protection scenario for a land area.”

Photo Credit: www.fws.gov

Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CoBRA)

Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Protects coastal barriers

Prevents development

Prevents loss of resources

Photo Credit: www.myfwc.com

What Can We Do Locally? Local municipalities

should include conservation societies at stakeholder meetings.

Prevent development in at-risk areas.

Develop a long-term plan for protection measures, and begin construction within 10 years.

Photo Credit: www.pattayamail.com

Infrastructure Challenges Increasing sea levels lead

to increases in ground water and this could lead to corrosion of buried utility pipes or instability of road surfaces, also groundwater infiltration into wastewater systems could lead to incapacitation of some treatment plants. Sea level rise also will compromise the quality of the water supply from aquifers. (Deyle, Bailey & Matheny, 2007).

Photo Credit: www.fema.gov

National Flood Insurance Program

Administered by FEMA.

Government backed insurance.

Increases building code standards.

Reduces stress on taxpayers.

Photo Credit: Stantis

What Can We Do Locally? Radically change

underground infrastructure to become easily accessible.

Develop a national inspection and insurance program for public infrastructure.

Increase building code standards to eliminate corrosion of pipes.

Conclusion Incentive programs to consider sea-level rise.

Increased elevation in building codes.

Increased stakeholder inclusion in planning meetings.

Spread costs by developing long-term construction plans.

Protect infrastructure with a national inspection and insurance program.

Begin transforming current infrastructure to be resilient to sea-level rise.

References Deyle, R. E., Bailey, K. C., & Matheny, A. (2007). Adaptive Response Planning to Sea Level Rise in Florida and

Implications for Comprehensive and Public-Facilities Planning. Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Retrieved September 15, 2010, from

http://www.dca.state.fl.us/fdcp/dcp/publications/Files/AdaptiveResponsePlanningSeaLevelRise.pdf Florida Oceans and Coastal Council (2009). The Effects of Climate Change on Florida's Ocean & Coastal

Resources. Retrieved September 15, 2010, from

http://www.floridaoceanscouncil.org/reports/Climate_Change_Report_v2.pdf Florida Sea Grant. (2010, September). Climate Change and Florida's Coast. Retrieved September 16, 2010,

from http://www.flseagrant.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115&Itemid=50 Harrington, J., & Walton, T. (n.d.). Climate change in coastal Florida: economic impacts of sea level rise.

Tallahassee: Florida State University. Newman, P., Beatley, T., & Boyer, H. (2009). Resilient cities: responding to peak oil and climate change.

Washington, DC: Island Press. Pinellas County Planning Department (2008). Pinellas County Comprehensive Plan. Retrieved September 15,

2010, from http://www.pinellascounty.org/Plan/comp_plan/05coastal/ch-6.pdf Stanton, E. A., & Ackerman, F. (2007). Florida and Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction. Medford, MA: Tufts

University. Retrieved September 15, 2010, from http://ase.tufts.edu/gdae/Pubs/rp/Florida_lr.pdf Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (2006). Sea level rise in the Tampa Bay region. Retrieved September 14,

2010, from

http://www.tbrpc.org/mapping/pdfs/sea_level_rise/Tampa%20Bay%20-%20Sea%20Level%20Rise%20Project%20Draft%20Report%20without%20maps.pdf