City of Cambridge

1. Climate
Change
Vulnerability
Assessment
and
Preparedness
Planning
in
Cambridge,
MA
by
Susanne
Rasmussen
Director
of
Environmental
&Transporta9on
Planning
City
of
Cambridge
at
Massachuse@s
Sustainable
Communi9es
Conference
Worcester,
MA
April
24,
2013

2. § Popula9on:
105,162
(2010)
§ Area:
6.26
square
miles
§ Employment:
111,447
(2008)
§ Mixed-­‐use,
high-­‐density
About
Cambridge,
MA
§ Significant
buildings
and
infrastructure
near
Charles
River
and
Alewife
Brook
§ Neighborhoods
on
filled
land

3. How
Cambridge
Got
Started
1990 Recycling
Ordinance,
curbside
recycling
begins;
Environment
Program
established
1992 Vehicle
Trip
Reduc9on
Ordinance
directs
city
toward
emphasis
on
non-­‐automobile
transport
1995
Parking
&
Transporta9on
Demand
Management
Ordinance
1999 Cambridge
joins
ICLEI-­‐Local
Governments
for
Sustainability
&
conducts
GHG
emissions
inventory

4. § Climate
Ac9on
Plan
adopted
by
City
Council
late
2002
§ Focus
on
mi9ga9on
§ Climate
Protec9on
Advisory
Commi@ee
,
represen9ng
residents,
business
and
universi9es,
recommends
adding
adap9on
focus
in
2010
Mi=ga=on
vs
Adap=on?

5. Key
Recommenda=ons
• Some
degree
of
climate
change
is
unavoidable
• Cambridge
is
vulnerable
to
sea
level
rise
and
storm
surge
flooding
• Climate
change
can
cause
a
wide
range
of
public
health
impacts
• Impacts
to
water
supply,
food
supply,
energy
system
reliability,
surface
water
quality,
and
transporta9on
are
expected
• Physical
impacts
can
lead
to
social
and
economic
impacts
• It
is
important
to
start
planning
now

6. Temperature
Precipita9on
Sea
level
rise
Extreme
weather
Vulnerability:
Key
Concerns

7. Es9mated
flooding
on
Oct.
29th

8. If
surge
had
hit
at
high
9de
Oct
29th

9. Surge
at
high
9de
+
2.5
e
SLR

10. Star=ng
the
Process
• Funding
included
in
FY13
budget
for
vulnerability
assessment
and
adapta9on
plan
• RFP
process
to
find
consultant
team
with
exper9se
in
climate
change
modeling
and
impact
analysis
• Kleinfelder,
Cambridge-­‐based
engineering
firm
with
addi9onal
experts
in
scenario
development,
risk
modeling,
public
health,
economic
impacts
and
stakeholder
engagement

11. 1. Vulnerability
Assessment
(2012-­‐2013)
• Provide
technical
and
scien9fic
informa9on
for
assessing
risk
and
vulnerability
• Iden9fy
priority
planning
areas
• Establish
stakeholder
engagement
processes
2. Preparedness
Planning
(2014-­‐2015)
• Iden9fy
measures
to
prepare
for
changes
likely
to
occur
from
climate
change
• Adopt
implementa9on
measures
Two
stage
process

12. Vulnerability
Assessment
Process
1. Climate
Scenarios
2. Impact
analyses
• Infrastructure
and
buildings
• Public
health
• Economic
• Urban
forest
3. Vulnerability
analysis
4. Risk
assessment
5. Priority
preparedness
planning
areas

13. Vulnerability
Ranking

14. Sensi=vity
• Sensi9vity
=
Degree
to
which
a
built,
natural,
or
human
system
is
directly
or
indirectly
affected
by
changes
in
climate
condi9ons
or
specific
climate
change
impacts.
• Example:
A
building
without
air
condi9oning
and
housing
elderly
residents
is
highly
sensi9ve
to
increased
temperatures.

15. Adap=ve
Capacity
• Adap9ve
Capacity
=
The
degree
of
built,
natural,
or
human
systems
to
accommodate
changes
in
climate
with
minimal
poten9al
damage
or
cost,
or
to
take
advantage
of
opportuni9es
presented
by
climate
change.
• Example:
Electrical
systems
fi@ed
with
equipment
that
is
salt
resistance
have
higher
adap9ve
capacity
in
terms
of
responding
to
flooding
from
the
ocean.

16.
6
members,
climate
experts
from
Harvard,
MIT
and
BU
• Small,
highly
technical
mee9ngs
• Key
responsibili9es
• Review
technical
approach
by
project
team
and
give
guidance/input
on
scenario
development,
modeling
• Lend
credibility
to
study,
basis
for
preparedness
plan
• LOTS
of
feedback
already
on:
• Uncertainty
of
climate
models
and
the
challenges
in
downscaling
an9cipated
impacts
• Value
of
building
on
lessons
from
elsewhere,
for
example
Hurricane
Sandy,
and
use
of
“war
gaming”
Expert
Advisory
Panel

17.
• 16
members
represen9ng
key
stakeholder
groups
(agencies,
ins9tu9ons,
businesses,
residents,
etc.)
• These
mee9ngs
will
be
somewhat
technical
• Key
responsibili9es
• To
learn
about
the
project
• To
share
informa9on
with
technical
team
• To
act
as
liaisons
to
their
organiza9ons
and
agencies
• Also
engaging
with
the
City
of
Boston,
e.g.
Boston
Water
and
Sewer
Commission’s
25-­‐year
asset
management
plan
Technical
Advisory
CommiRee

18.
• 3
Public
Workshops
(evenings
or
weekends)
• Intent
is
to
get
50-­‐100
people
to
a@end,
seeking
wide
par9cipa9on
through
many
outreach
strategies
• Designed
so
people
can
talk
to
each
other
• Key
expecta9ons:
• Provide
input,
local
knowledge
• Share
perspec9ves
on
early
work
• Act
as
liaisons
into
the
community
about
the
project
• Hurricane
Sandy
greatly
increased
the
public’s
interest
in
preparedness
planning
Public
Workshops

19.
• A@ending
mee9ngs
of
neighborhood,
business
and
interest
groups
• Project
website,
listserv
• Focus
groups
as
needed
• Surveys
• CHALLENGES:
• High
degree
of
uncertainty
• Poten9al
impact
are
scary
• But,
not
happening
right
now
• Need
to
learn
how
to
engage
public
as
we
go
along
Other
Engagement
Strategies

20. Q
&
A
• For
more
informa9on:
h@p://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/
Climate/
climatechangeresilianceandadapta9on.aspx
20