http://wetlandswatch.org RSS feeds for Wetlands Watch 60 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/114/North-Carolinas-Tough-Shoreline-Decisions.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=114 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=114&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/114/North-Carolinas-Tough-Shoreline-Decisions.aspx North Carolina has what is probably the worst and first set of tough decisions along the Atlantic Coast...what to do with the highway that runs the length of its barrier islands, North Carolina 12.  In an excellent series in the Virginian Pilot, the issues around the history, present, and future of this highway are explored. As you know, North Carolina has a long and tortured experience with its coastal policy and sea level rise.  The decisions to be made around the future of NC 12 will just add to this complicated situation. But in the end, the decisions facing North Carolina now are the decisions all coastal states will face going forward.  So we should all be paying close attention as events unfold down there.  Spend more money now and regret it later, cut off the economic engine for most of the eastern part of the state?  What is the best policy? sstiles Tue, 14 May 2013 15:23:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:114 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/112/Complications-of-Change--Coastal-Gentrification.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=112 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=112&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/112/Complications-of-Change--Coastal-Gentrification.aspx The house in that picture - the one barely visible behind a massive wall of concrete and sand - could be the future of our coast.  As coastal risk increases with sea level rise, as private insurance and flood insurance get more expensive, many worry that only the rich will be able to live on the shore and they'll do what they want with their property...like this $50,000 sand and concrete berm.  An interesting article in the NY Times on this.  (from which this photo comes - click on the photo to get a larger version) We have advocated that the cost of coastal development reflect its true cost and risk, so that the push to develop will slow down and the tidal wetlands, coastal dunes, shallow water habitat, etc. are allowed some chance of adapting to sea level rise.  But in the real world this gets complicated, as those with means take the logical and understandable steps to protect their investments and homes. We need to understand this better.  Wetlands Watch is almost finished with a study on homeowners insurance along the shoreline.  We are starting to look at the National Flood insurance Program as well, to see if insurance is sending risk and price signals about increasing shoreline risk.  We also want to know what the impacts will be - will only the rich be able to live along the shore?  Will they be able to do what they want with their property, like the house in the picture, dooming the coastal ecosystem as sea levels rise? Stay tuned and we'll explore this together. sstiles Thu, 02 May 2013 14:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:112 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/111/Virginia-Wetlands-Watch-Back-in-Court.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=111 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=111&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/111/Virginia-Wetlands-Watch-Back-in-Court.aspx Yes, Virginia, there is danger from greenhouse gases - though Virginia wants to disprove it...still. Wetlands Watch joined with the Southern Environmental Law Center back in 2010 to oppose Virginia's position that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was wrong in seeking to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.  Wetlands Watch, out and about along Virginia's tidal shoreline had seen clear evidence that things were changing. We were the only groups in Virginia to stand up against our Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's with legal arguments that greenhouse gases ARE endangering Virginians as sea levels rise. We won the argument in the US Court of Appeals last year.  Virginia was the first to try to get the decision reversed in the US Supreme Court, filing in March for a Supreme Court review.  Yesterday, a bunch of others joined our quixotic effort to deny the causes of climate change. So we're on our way to the top, dragged along by our state government that refuses to go quietly on their way in the last few months of their term. sstiles Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:20:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:111 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/110/The-Other-Shoe-Drops-in-NC-Coastal-Power-Grab.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=110&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/110/The-Other-Shoe-Drops-in-NC-Coastal-Power-Grab.aspx Remember the bill in North Carolina to outlaw sea level rise?  Remember how it got changed to say that the state would empower North Carolina's Coastal Commission to come up with a new estimate of sea level rise by 2016?  Remember how we worried that between now and then you could do a lot to change the commission and get whatever rate of sea level rise you wanted? Our worries are coming true in a bill to change the North Carolina Coastal Commission from a fact-based body to a captive of coastal development interests and Raleigh politicians.  Senate Bill 10 would eliminate seats on the commission for sport fisheries, commercial fisheries, coastal ecology, agriculture, forestry, and conservation and would replace some of them with folks appointed by politicians, representatives of coastal developers and the like. So how do you suppose this new group will do when confronted with the task of setting the state's rate of sea level rise, when that sea level rise is going to adversely affect their interests? sstiles Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:25:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/109/Cost-of-Climate-Change-Being-Felt-Now.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=109 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=109&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/109/Cost-of-Climate-Change-Being-Felt-Now.aspx An interesting article out in the National Journal on costs of climate change being felt today.  I took the reporter out for a "windshield tour" of flooding and we dropped in on Wetlands Watch's accountant, Jimmy Strickland, a wonderful man who has experienced increased flooding as a result of sea level rise. I talked a bit about his story after the storm, but you cannot really get the feel of what Jimmy faces until you walk through his office and see what he has experienced. He and his business are on the front lines of sea level rise adaptation and are pioneering the path that businesses will be taking. Wetlands Watch is in the middle of a study on private sector responses to sea level rise and we hope to finish our first phase of this work in a few weeks.  Strickland and Jones Accounting have been a big help in learning what businesses face. sstiles Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:44:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:109 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/108/Silly-Season-in-Richmond.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=108 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=108&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/108/Silly-Season-in-Richmond.aspx With a host of real challenges facing the citizens of Virginia, three members of the House of Delegates have chosen to spend their time fighting imaginary ones.  Delegates Ben Cline, Scott Lingamfelter and Daniel Marshall are seeking to keep Virginians safe from the pending takeover by the United Nations. I took a swipe at these proposals in a piece in the Virginian Pilot recently. Seemingly the only ones to have noticed this threat, Cline, Lingamfelter and Marshall want the "sustainable development" movement directed by United Nation's Agenda 21, to be illegal in Virginia.  If this sounds familiar, remember that Alabama passed a similar law last year. Cline's approach in HB2223, stops Virginia or any local government from approving policies found in Agenda 21.  It goes on to claim that, "the United Nations has accredited and enlisted numerous governmental, nongovernmental, and intergovernmental organizations to assist in the implementation of its policies." and none of those folks can get pubic funds either. Asked if he's seen evidence of this Agenda 21 conspiracy in action, Cline said he has not but, "Often, these agendas are implemented unknowingly by boards and soil and water conservation districts that are unaware of the larger agenda some are seeking to push."  I always wondered what went on in those meetings, naively thinking they were talking about reducing soil erosion. Lingamfelter's bill, HRes 654, is mostly advisory, warning the General Assembly to be on the lookout for and oppose any part of the conspiracy and to transmit the state's position to the Secretary of State and the United Nations.  Projecting the image of Virginians as wearing tin foil hats and fighting imaginary evils must seem like a good idea to him, somehow making Virginia a place you'd like to live in and invest in.  Unfortunately as he states on his website, he really believes this nonsense, stating that, "These 'green' initiatives are simply props in a UN plan to demonize and destroy the American way of life." Marshall's bill, HB 2081, would ban, "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs "  and, "is seen as the guiding principle for long-term global development."  So, Marshall gives a thumbs up to unsustainable development which one supposes is development that meets today's needs while compromising future generations.  (This sort of sounds like our state's environmental, transportation, and fiscal policies.) We'll be keeping an eye on these bills and anyone in a blue UN helmet who shows up at a local wetlands board or planning commission or soil and water conservation board seeking to impose sustainability upon an unwilling population. sstiles Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:49:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:108 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/107/Maryland-Executive-Order-on-Coastal-Adaptation.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=107 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=107&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/107/Maryland-Executive-Order-on-Coastal-Adaptation.aspx Maryland's Governor O'Malley is trying to restart adaptation efforts post-Sandy with an executive order requiring state agencies in Maryland to start taking sea level rise into account.  This is a significant first step that every state along the coast needs to start taking. Maryland has been a leader on adaptation efforts, publishing one of the first state plans in 2000.  Its work since then has been setting the pace along the Atlantic Coast. This kind of executive action was one of the recommendations of the Virginia Climate Change Commission in 2008, when we laid out an adaptation road map.  We've not gone far along this road in Virginia, but with Sandy still in our memory, we need to get moving, as was highlighted in the Richmond Times Dispatch recently. sstiles Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:37:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:107 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/106/Washington-Post-Opinion-Article-on-Coastal-Policy.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=106 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=106&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/106/Washington-Post-Opinion-Article-on-Coastal-Policy.aspx Now that we are entering the "post-Sandy" era in shoreline communities everyone expects things to be different.  But I beg to differ, and wrote about this in a recent opinion piece in the Washington Post. Federal policy perpetuates the status quo, the patterns of settlement that got us in trouble with "Superstorm Sandy"...and Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Andrew, and so on.  With nothing having changed, without federal policy changes and state policy changes, we leave coastal communities with no choice but to do the same thing. One hopeful sign recently was the move by Maryland Governor O'Malley to issue an executive order on sea level rise adaptation.  In this document, he is telling state agencies to start taking sea level rise into account in their decisions on state-owned infrastructure and buildings.  This is a significant first step that every state along the coast needs to start taking.  This kind of executive action was one of the recommendations of the Virginia Climate Change Commission in 2008, when we laid out an adaptation road map.  We've not gone far along this road, but with Sandy still in our memory, we need to get moving. sstiles Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:32:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:106 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/105/Virginia-Sea-Level-Rise-Study-Delivered.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=105 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=105&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/105/Virginia-Sea-Level-Rise-Study-Delivered.aspx In the 2012 General Assembly, Senator Northam and Delegates Stolle and Lewis teamed up to pass a study on "recurrent flooding" in tidewater Virginia, including the Eastern Shore.  The study work is being done by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) at their Center for Coastal Resources Management and is just finished.  It was delivered to the General Assembly at their 2013 session and can be downloaded HERE. The study was featured in a recent magazine article and is significant help to those of us working on adaptation in Virginia.  It is another step forward in a state that faces great risk from flooding made worse by sea level rise.  Wetlands Watch's executive director, Skip Stiles, is proud to have been a co-author of the study, the first look at sea level rise adaptation since the 2008 Climate Commission.  Click on the thumbnail image above to see the projection range for sea level rise that we are looking at.  These numbers reflect the new estimates of sea level rise by Dr. John Boone at VIMS and Dr. Tal Ezer at Old Dominion University.  When I was on the Virginia Climate Change Commission in 2008, we were using 2.3 - 5.2 feet as the centennial rate: this is showing 3 - 7+ feet for the range on the centennial rate. These are unsettling and increase the urgency for action In recognition of Senator Northam's work, we awarded him Wetlands Watch's first "Vision Award" on December 19.  The press release on that event can be downloaded HERE. sstiles Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:04:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:105 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/104/Still-Being-Left-Alone-Along-the-Shoreline.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=104 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=104&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/104/Still-Being-Left-Alone-Along-the-Shoreline.aspx "The failure by state and federal governments to develop climate change adaptation strategies leaves individuals, companies, and local governments to stumble blind and alone onto an increasingly dangerous terrain." This quote is from 2009 Congressional Testimony I presented laying out the status of Virginia's attempts to adapt to sea level rise and other climate change impacts. Over three years later, the statement is still true and I repeated it in a story on Virginia's efforts to deal with Sea Level Rise. Wetlands Watch staff was up in Richmond this week at the Virginia Coastal Zone Program's partners meeting, a gathering of local and regional government folks working in the tidal reaches of Virginia.  A panel on sea level rise adaptation from four of Virginia's tidal regions all asked for state leadership on the issue of sea level rise. In response to all of this, Governor McDonnell's spokesperson said, "“We are not aware of any meetings related to sea-level rise and its impact on Virginians that have been requested and refused by the administration.” For my part, I am unaware of any meetings related to sea level rise and its impact on Virginians that have been held by the administration in its first three years in office.... despite growing evidence that coastal communities are facing greater risks from flooding. (photo source Richmond Times Dispatch) sstiles Sun, 09 Dec 2012 20:43:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:104 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/102/Move-Away-From-the-Shore-Hah.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=102 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=102&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/102/Move-Away-From-the-Shore-Hah.aspx North Carolina is again setting the pace for adaptation policy along the tidal shoreline.  These south Nags Head houses to the left were hammered by the nor'easter we had in 2009 - left out in the water, septic systems washed away, unusable.  A press story a year after details the difficulties still being encountered finding a "new normal" on this stretch of coast. Nags Head's township's move to condemn the damaged properties triggered a two year legal sojourn to the state Supreme Court that has eaten up millions in legal fees.  The owner of the properties above wanted to be able to ...move them, fix them and said the town had no right to take them.  Recently the NC Supreme Court agreed so there they sit.  Since the storm, the town paid to replenish the beach, so for now they're back on dry land...until? Those watching the post-Sandy events should pay attention to this one.  Moving to a new reality along the shore is going to be tougher than we think. See some press coverage of this issue. A longer, more detailed view of the struggles of oceanfront homeowners and local government on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. sstiles Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:41:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:102 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/101/Sandy-and-Next-Steps.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=101 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=101&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/101/Sandy-and-Next-Steps.aspx Hurricane Sandy is changing national views on extreme weather and sea level rise impacts.  Is this storm the result of climate change? A good article in Bloomberg/Business Week lays this out as does the chart to the left.  The conclusion, as one analogy puts it in the article, “We can’t say that steroids caused any one home run by Barry Bonds, but steroids sure helped him hit more and hit them farther. Now we have weather on steroids.” We have been doing a lot of talking to insurance companies and others in the private sector about what the future will bring.  We hope to update you soon. We also have been compiling a set of news articles on Sandy = click HERE. We will continue to try to be a clearinghouse for information on Sandy and any new directions in adaptation to sea level rise...and Climate Change. All of this work comes together at the local government level as was pointed out in a background document to the National Climate Assessment.  This must be taken into account in any post-Sandy strategy. sstiles Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:06:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:101 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/100/The-Reality-of-Sea-Level-Rise-and-Flooding-on-One-Small-Business.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=100 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=100&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/100/The-Reality-of-Sea-Level-Rise-and-Flooding-on-One-Small-Business.aspx Below the 30,000 foot view of sea level rise and flooding are many stories of individuals struggling with a changed reality along the shoreline.  One of those stories belongs to my accountant, and a friend, who owns a one-story building in a low-lying part of Norfolk, Virginia. I just got off the phone with him and he detailed the last 36 hours he and his wife spent at their office, riding out Hurricane Sandy.  He has a $10,000 deductible on losses, an amount he has paid many times in recent years.  He has spent $12,000 for a water dam around his building, a structure he researched and installed on his own, without any government help.  He has owned the building for nearly 30 years, pays taxes on it, but it is....hard to sell given its location and flooding history. The water dam worked until the 10 am high tide this morning when water started seeping in through the walls.  He and his wife started their wet-vac machines and spent most of today trying to keep their office from flooding.  Tonight, the water is receding and he is taking a long-overdue rest. Tomorrow he will be at Home Depot buying fans and dehumidifiers to fix the damage.  His employees will download their work onto laptops and work out of his Virginia Beach office - on higher ground.  If he is lucky this time, he will not have to replace his carpet and the first foot of drywall in his offices. He is waiting on FEMA approval for helping him pay for a sealant on his walls, a fix that would save him in these events.  How long that will take is anyone's guess, so until then he, his partner, his wife, and a few others will be sleeping at the office and sucking up the water that seeps through the walls. There has to be a better way, don't you think?? sstiles Tue, 30 Oct 2012 02:58:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:100 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/99/Excess-Nutrients-Killing-Off-Tidal-Marshes.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=99 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=99&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/99/Excess-Nutrients-Killing-Off-Tidal-Marshes.aspx Wow, another link between today's healthy wetlands and tomorrow's abability to adapt to sea level rise.  A new study at Woods Hole's marine Biological Laboratorysays that excess nutrients are accelerating losses of tidal marshes.  Seems too much nitrogen and the marsh plants grow faster and taller, without forming the corresponding root support.  The plants then fall over and get pulled by currents, tearing apart the marsh.  There is a You Tube clip of the research findings. For Virginia, considering a rule to allow the direct discharge of septic waste into wetlands, this should be a warning.  However, I doubt they'll pay attention up in Richmond. This has long-term implications and is another example of where building in wetlands "resiliency" - making the wetlands strong and able to withstand disruptions - pays benefits today and in the future.  Sea Level Rise is putting extreme pressure on tidal wetlands and if the nutrient pollution is compounding that pressure, the tidal wetlands losses will be higher than we estimate. sstiles Mon, 22 Oct 2012 18:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:99 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/98/New-National-Report-Puts-Lead-Role-for-Adaptation-on-Localities.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=98 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=98&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/98/New-National-Report-Puts-Lead-Role-for-Adaptation-on-Localities.aspx There is a new coastal climate change impacts report out, being prepared as technical background to the National Climate Assessment.   I just got my electronic copy yesterday, so am reading through it and will update this post as I find gems. One key gem found already - "Although state and federal governments play a major role in facilitating adaptation planning, most coastal adaptation will be implemented at the local level. Local governments are the primary actors charged with making the critical, basic land-use and public investment decisions and with working with community stakeholder groups to implement adaptive measures on the ground." Wetlands Watch has been working with local governments for over five years, trying to help them cope with sea level rise impacts.  This finding both validates our work...and scares the dickens out of me.  It means we have got to work even harder because working with localities is a "retail operation,"  working one community at a time. We can do it - and Virginia's local and regional governments are up there with the best in terms of what is going on. sstiles Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:12:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:98 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/96/Flood-Insurance-Commentary.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=96 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=96&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/96/Flood-Insurance-Commentary.aspx People who live along the tidal shoreline are exposed to flooding, especially when storms hit.  The risk is high enough that, let alone, the private market would charge a lot to offer flood insurance in low-lying areas affected by tidal floods. In the late 1960's, the federal government got tired of paying disaster relief for floods (because so many folks decided to forego expensive, private flood insurance) so they started offering subsidized flood insurance.  The idea was that if enough folks bought the new federal flood insurance, the feds would save money by not having to pay so much when an area flooded during a storm because the flood insurance program would pay many of these damage claims. (read the program history here) The feds (now the Federal Emergency Management Administration - FEMA) mandated the flood insurance for folks in high-risk zones and made it optional for others at lower risk.  And they said that before you could get this subsidized flood insurance, your community had to have a plan for managing its land that could get flooded - like making homeowners build their houses higher, putting only garage space on the first floor in high risk areas, and the like.  In order to make it less painful on folks already living in high-risk zones, Congress decided to subsidize their premiums for homes already in these high-risk zones in order to lower insurance costs from what the free market would charge for their risk. The whole idea was to insure that after a flood, you could restore the property to what it was before the flood - its "pre-flood condition." Enter sea level rise, that made living along the tidal shoreline even more risky and made it difficult to impossible to restore property to a "pre-flood" condition - since the shoreline changes make that unattainable. So now we have a flood insurance program that continues to subsidize high-risk properties, offers full coverage for shoreline choices that are clearly unsustainable economically in the face of sea level rise, and is bankrupt (FEMA still owes the treasury $17 billion it borrowed after Katrina.) This program is unsustainable yet continues with the blessing and active support of banks, credit unions, real estate developers and the like.  Without this federal subsidy, they would have a harder time selling coastal real estate and financing it. With this federal subsidy, all of us taxpayers are on the hook and free market signals on price and risk  - showing the true cost of shoreline living - are perverted. Changing this system will be hard and costly.  Without this subsidy my home in a coastal community might be worth less, the real estate-based local tax base might decline as valuable shoreline properties are harder to sell, and many folks expecting a return on their property investment for retirement would have fewer options. This is not easy, but the flood insurance system is going to change due to the financial losses it is experiencing and due to coming changes in rates and rate maps.  We all need to better understand this system as we move into a new, more challenging time along the tidal shore. sstiles Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:96 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/95/New-Climate-Change-Study-for-Hampton-Roads-VA.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=95 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=95&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/95/New-Climate-Change-Study-for-Hampton-Roads-VA.aspx The Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) recently released a study on Climate Change - their third report in the last three years as part of the Coastal Zone Program grant.  The study is a very good one, outlining impacts to the region and proposing some actions moving forward. For Hampton Roads, depending upon how you calculate flooding impacts, the cost will run between $12 and $87 billion just for properties inundated by the sea level rise we will see in the next century!  Add to that between 160 and 870 miles of roads lost in the region, and between 5,000 and 50,800 jobs affected.  This is a big impact and this is just the first cut at estimating it. You can get the text of the report HERE.  The maps that accompany the report are large, so we have split them in two segments.  Maps of inundation projections for the first 17 quadrangles in Hampton Roads are HERE - the second set of maps is HERE. (be patient - they'll download, honest!) The report looks at the impacts of a meter of sea level rise and recommends the use of the new US Army Corps of Engineers guidance on sea level rise as a planning tool. At the same time, the HRPDC approved $80,000 toward a regional digital mapping effort that will give us maps along the coast with 4 inches of vertical elevation!  These Lidar maps are essential to accurate models of sea level rise inundation. sstiles Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:25:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:95 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/94/Delaware-Issues-Sea-Level-Rise-Impact-Assessment.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=94 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=94&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/94/Delaware-Issues-Sea-Level-Rise-Impact-Assessment.aspx We wrote before about the good work going on in Delaware to deal with sea level rise impacts. They have had a Sea Level Rise Advisory Committee meeting for almost two years now. The Committee has now issued a Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment Report for Delaware that identifies the various potential impacts of sea level rise in that state.  This is the culmination of this assessment phase of their work - next comes the work to plan on how to deal with this inundation. Delaware used an estimated 1.5 meters (~4 feet) of sea level rise in their document.  This is in the range that all the other states in the mid-Atlantic are using, except Virginia which does not have a state government program to deal with sea level rise...and North Carolina which has a state government program to deal with sea level rise, but refuses to listen to the conclusions. In Delaware, the need for adaptation is clear - there are already impacts being felt.  This is prompting even very politically conservative government watchdog groups in Delaware to support these adaptation efforts. sstiles Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:51:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:94 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/93/Our-Sea-Level-Rise-Message-Covered-in-Press.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=93 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=93&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/93/Our-Sea-Level-Rise-Message-Covered-in-Press.aspx Just back from yet another Rotary Breakfast and yet another talk on sea level rise impacts. This work is critical to informing our efforts - the contact with "real people" helps us become more effective messengers. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) publication, Coastal Services, put our communications work on its cover.   The article talks about our message development and how it has morphed over time...and continues to change based on what we learn from contact with the public in these small meetings.  This is VERY scary stuff to most folks along the coast and walking them carefully into the issue and pointing them toward steps they can take to deal with sea level rise is the key. Freaking folks out with dire predictions does not work.  Showing them how they can take control is the way to engage them.  We hope that this article will help others become more effective communicators along the coast. (If you want a longer, footnoted version of our efforts, we had an article in Watershed Bulletin recently that you can find HERE.) sstiles Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:25:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:93 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/92/Wetlands-Watch-Funded-to-Help-Take-Conservation-Landscaping-to-Next-Level.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=92 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=92&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/92/Wetlands-Watch-Funded-to-Help-Take-Conservation-Landscaping-to-Next-Level.aspx Wetlands Watch has been working on how to expand watershed group work with homeowners on conservation landscaping - rain gardens, removing impervious surface, restoring buffers, living shorelines, etc.  We did a study and are ready to move to the next level, so we applied for funding to bring folks together to talk about how to move this work ahead. We were awarded funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as part of a grant to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.  Now we are ready to hold a strategic summit aimed at addressing the barriers to full implementation of conservation landscaping.  We want as well to start a network of people working on and interested in these practices. Our end goal?  We want full implementation of conservation landscaping = "expanded adoption of proven conservation landscaping practices on a scale sufficient to have a positive impact on nutrient and sediment pollution reduction, on a sustainable basis over time, and in such a manner that localities can take credit for those installed practices in their WIP reporting." We're looking for a meeting this winter and we're working on it with our partners now. sstiles Tue, 18 Sep 2012 02:54:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:92 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/91/New-Home-for-Virginia-Climate-Change-Commissions-Website.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=91 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=91&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/91/New-Home-for-Virginia-Climate-Change-Commissions-Website.aspx This summer, Virginia updated some of its websites and discarded pages that were no longer needed...at least no longer needed under the current Governor's policies.  Part of that tidying up resulted in the removal of the website for the "Governor's Commission on Climate Change,"  the 2008 effort to define the impacts of climate change in Virginia and the state policies needed to address that change. As the site blinked on and off, we contacted staff at the host agency and asked for the source code and documents on the site.  We then reconstructed the Commission's site on our server. So, if you try to find the Virginia Commission on Climate Change, you'll be directed to http://www.sealevelrisevirginia.net/main_CCC_files/. We'll keep it safe until things change in Virginia. Update your links to the report and if you want a summary of the Commission's adaptation recommendations, you'll find those on our site as well. [Subsequent to this Summer, 2012 post, the press started covering this issue.  The Richmond Times Dispatch ran an article, followed by an editorial in the Daily Progress in Charlottesville.] sstiles Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:36:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:91 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/90/Southestern-Florida-and-Sea-Level-Rise-Flooding.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=90 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=90&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/90/Southestern-Florida-and-Sea-Level-Rise-Flooding.aspx A very good article from the Miami Herald on the challenges they are facing in Southeastern Florida from flooding made worse by sea level rise.  This is the same issue faced in all coastal cities - and especially true in Southeastern Virginia.  A recent Virginian Pilot story on rainfall flooding in Norfolk echoes this story's issues. The cost estimates in the article are sobering.  “If 50 years from now we’re looking at a foot and a half or two feet and rising, our region is going to be confronted with some very serious problems,’’ said Barry Heimlich, an Florida Atlantic University researcher who co-authored (a recent)study. “It’s going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars.’’ As we've noted before, Southeastern Florida is leading the country in their proactive approach to sea level rise adaptation.  Time for the rest of us - especially in Virginia - to take note and start catching up. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/01/v-fullstory/2980388/rising-sea-come-at-a-cost-for.html#storylink=cpy sstiles Mon, 03 Sep 2012 13:46:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:90 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/89/Daily-Climate-Story-on-Norfolk-and-Sea-Level-Rise.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=89 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=89&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/89/Daily-Climate-Story-on-Norfolk-and-Sea-Level-Rise.aspx Another good story detailing the challenges we face here in Hampton Roads from flooding and sea level rise.  Jennifer Weeks writing for the Daily Climate was in town a while ago and we drove around for a tour of the city and today's experiences from flooding. In many communities here, we are beyond planning and are looking for funding to fix the problems we face.  If only the state of Virginia would step in and help, we would make more progress. Stories like this make it real...maybe real enough that folks up in Richmond will wake up. sstiles Sun, 26 Aug 2012 21:25:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:89 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/88/So-Which-is-it--Extreme-Weather-Proves-or-Disproves-Climate-Change.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=88 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=88&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/88/So-Which-is-it--Extreme-Weather-Proves-or-Disproves-Climate-Change.aspx Back in the winter of 2010, after a huge snowstorm in the East, the Virginia Republican Party ran ads against two Democratic incumbents saying their support for climate change legislation was wrong - THE LARGE SNOWSTORM DISPROVED GLOBAL WARMING!  The ad (found on You Tube here)was part of a push that defeated Reps. Boucher and Periello that November. Fast forward to what is shaping up to be the hottest summer on record and ...now the Republican Party says this does not prove global warming.   In both examples, using a single set of weather events to make any claim on climate does not work:  you need a longer set of experience to do that. But the bottom line is that you cannot confuse climate and weather and you cannot switch and choose when it fits your political ends.  I'd rather that both political parties stayed out of this issue, but if they're going to play, at least use a single standard. sstiles Sun, 05 Aug 2012 15:10:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:88 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/87/Wetlands-Watch-Study-on-Conservation-Landscaping-to-Save-the-Bay.aspx#Comments 0 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=110&ModuleID=518&ArticleID=87 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=87&PortalID=3&TabID=110 http://www.wetlandswatch.org/NewsPublications/DirectorsBlog/tabid/110/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/87/Wetlands-Watch-Study-on-Conservation-Landscaping-to-Save-the-Bay.aspx Wetlands Watch's study on "conservation landscaping" needs in Virginia was just approved by the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) - download a copy here (184 pages!) - or download the executive summary here.  The study was funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program  is the first phase in work we have been doing for the last year to help expand the use of "conservation landscaping" on private property.  We see lots of watershed groups helping landowners put in rain gardens, rain barrels, native plants, replacing lawns with shrubs and trees, restoring shoreline buffers...but they are working largely independently and without the collaboration of government..or the private sector. Wetlands Watch saw the use of conservation landscaping as a way to meet nutrient and sediment pollution reduction goals through habitat restoration and creation - efforts that are getting shoved to the side in the urgency to meet pollution reduction standards. Shereen Hughes of Wetlands Watch has a background in landscape design and land use planning and set about to find ways to expand conservation landscaping efforts - first by getting appointed to the Bay Program's Watershed Steward Action Team and then by getting the HRPDC to contract with us in our work.  ( Wetlands Watch is the first environmental group in the history of the southeastern Virginia regional planning entity to get a study contract.)  We wrote a bit about our work in this space a while ago. Next steps are to get a regional meeting in eastern Virginia to explore collaborations between watershed groups, government agencies, soil and water conservation districts, extension service, and...maybe most importantly - the private sector. sstiles Mon, 09 Jul 2012 19:34:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:87