1. Tampa Bay’s Resiliency to Sea Level The Three Main Challenges to Local Municipalities Maria Booker SGS CGN 6933
2. Contents What does resiliency mean? 3 Educational Challenges 4 The Coastal Zoning Management Program 5 What Can We do Locally? 6 Definition Challenges 7 Coastal Barrier Resources Act 8 What Can We Do Locally? 9 Infrastructure Challenges 10 National Flood Insurance Program 11 What Can We Do Locally 12 Conclusion 13 References 14
3. 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.innerauto.com
4. 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.beautysnob.com
9. 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.tripadvisor.com
10. 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.getfrank.co.nz
11. 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.fws.gov
12. 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.myfwc.com
13. 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.pattayamail.com
14. National Flood Insurance Program Administered by FEMA. Government backed insurance. Increases building code standards. Reduces stress on taxpayers. Photo Credit: www.fema.gov
15. 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. Photo Credit: Stantis
16. 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.
17. 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
Hinweis der Redaktion
In reference to Resilient Cities, I have identified three challenge areas to the Tampa Bay region: education, definition of protected areas, and infrastructure weakness. Addressing and overcoming these three challenges will help Tampa Bay become resilient to sea level rise. Photo Credit: http://www.innerauto.com/images/partImages/coil_springs1.jpg
There is possibility for an unhealthy cycle to occur here. Right now, regional reports state that sea level rise is 2.3mm, which is not unusual to U.S. averages, “an historical rise rate of more than 2.5 mm/yr is common along much of the U.S. coast” (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 2006). However, should carbon emissions continue at current, Stanton and Ackerman state that sea level could increase by 27 inches by 2060 (2007). If business continues as usual as well as planners remain uninterested in sea level rise, the Tampa Bay area could face huge infrastructure problems within the next 50 years. http://www.beautysnob.com/images2009/stress.gif
This program is relevant because it has been hugely successful, “Thirty-four states and territories with federally approved coastal management programs participate in the CZMP. Almost all of the nation’s shoreline (99.9%) is currently managed by the CZMP“ (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 2006).
The problem with the nationwide program is that it does not mandate states to be prepared for sea-level rise. “The main effect of the CZMA on the issue of sea level rise is to make state policymakers aware of the matter when they create their own coastal management plans.” (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 2006).Locally, municipalities can prevent new construction in coastal areas by defining more protected areas, existing areas should have stricter mandated building codes relating to elevation level and building materials. Coastal cities can also increase taxes and insurance to increase shore protection and adaptation funds.http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/54/e4/54/beach-construction.jpg
“It is generally being assumed that protection is almost certain for existing developed land/areas and extensively used parks. Protection is assumed to be reasonably likely for less densely developed areas and moderately used parks. Undeveloped areas and minimally used parks are assumed to be unlikely to be protected. Conservation lands, both privately and publicly owned, have generally been understood to be areas of “no protection” “(Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 2006).http://www.getfrank.co.nz/assets/images/Fullwidth/_resampled/ResizedImage600468-Eggs.JPGWhile planners have the most forecast in the region, perhaps the federal government pass a bill to protect undeveloped coastal areas. This scenario would increase a need for infrastructure materials in local municipalities, perhaps causing a financial burden.
Coastal Barriers protect our shore lines from wind and ocean energy, depletion of these barriers would mean that our shores would be degraded faster. CoBRA was created with a vision in mind to protect lives as well as nature. While we can’t prevent sea-level rise, we can organize our visions similar to CoBRA. (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, 2006).
While protection of developed areas is “almost certain”, long-term plans should be to deter residents from high-risk coastal areas. Preventing new development or increasing insurance and taxes in these regions would be good deterrents.Aware that large costs are going to be an issue, local cities need to start construction plans soon. http://blogs.trb.com/community/news/weston/forum/fwcclogo1.gif
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The problem with the NFIP is that it covers home and business owners. There are no national programs that protect public infrastructure from destruction.
