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U.S. Army Corps: Teamwork Vital to Manage Coastal Flood Risk

Cindy Cornett Seigle/Flickr
The Army Corp of Engineers presents a comprehensive study to promote environmental consciousness and coperation between private and governmental sectors.
Credit Army Corp of Engineers
The impact of Hurricane Sandy still resounds along the East Coast today.

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has dire predictions for many of the coastline communities in Connecticut and Long Island.

A report released on Wednesday, "North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study: Resilient Adaptation to Increasing Risk," took two years and covered 31,000 miles of coastline along ten states. It says climate change is putting the region at risk of more flooding and more superstorms like Sandy in 2012.

Joeseph Vietri, with the ACE, said western Long Island and western Connecticut are particularly vulnerable, which is a problem because they're such heavily populated areas. "Not all of them have the ability and the wherewithal to pick up and just move," he said. "So there are entire cities, towns, and villages that are under direct threat."

Ports and harbors along the Connecticut and Long Island coasts are vulnerable to flooding and storms, the report says, along with major interstates and railroads. Environmentally sensitive areas like tidal marshes are at risk of shrinking or disappearing altogether due to flooding.

The report generally promotes the idea of all levels of government working in tandem, along with the private sector, to manage flood risks along the North Atlantic coast from events like Superstorm Sandy.

From the report:

"Changing sea levels represent an inexorable process causing numerous, significant water resource problems such as: increased, widespread flooding along the coast; changes in salinity gradients in estuarine areas that impact ecosystems;increased inundation at high tide; decreased capacity for stormwater drainage; and declining reliability of critical infrastructure services such as transportation, power, and communications. Addressing these problems requires a paradigm shift in how we work, live, travel, and play in a sustainable manner as the extent of the area at very high risk of coastal storm damage expands."

As Sandy fades into memory, the report says, officials should resist a temptation to return to business as usual. Instead,  the study notes, the region should "remain focused on the 'new normal' of change that represents a responsible and effective response to the dynamic coastal environment."

Credit Army Corp of Engineers
"The North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study" provides a collaborative framework for environmental protection in the face of flooding.
The director of the Corps' National Planning Center for Coastal Storm Risk Management noted that "we're all going to have to make some tough choices."

A new normal, according to the director of the Corps National Planning Center for Coastal Storm Risk Management, means that "we're all going to have to make some tough choices."

Some of these choices could  mean that coastal communities will have to adapt and revaluate how land is used. The study even notes that "just as ecosystems migrate and change functions, human systems may have to relocate in a responsible manner to sustain their economic viability and social resilience."

Despite the assessments of coastline vulnerabilities and the proposal of mitigation strategies, the report stops short of making any firm recommendations. These actions, it says, should be made in collaboration between governmental, state, and private sectors.

This week's blizzard punched a gaping hole in a Massachusetts seawall, causing significant flooding.

Malloy ODonoghue is an intern at WNPR. This report includes information from The Associated Press and from WSHU Public Radio.

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