EBC Climate Change Webinar Series: Boston Harbor Regional “Layered Defense” Coastal Resilience System Part One: Integrating Municipal Coastal Resiliency Plans into a Regional Layered Defense System Welcome Ruth Silman Chair, EBC Climate Change and Air Committee Partner, Nixon Peabody LLP Environmental Business Council of New England Energy Environment Economy Introduction Bill Golden Program Chair & Moderator Project Coordinator Boston Harbor Regional Storm Surge Working Group Environmental Business Council of New England Energy Environment Economy Welcoming Remarks Karyn Polito Lieutenant Governor Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Case for An In-Depth Cost Benefit Analysis of the Option of a Boston Harbor Regional "Layered Defense" Coastal Resiliency System Bill Golden Project Coordinator Boston Harbor Regional Storm Surge Working Group Environmental Business Council of New England Energy Environment Economy THE OPTION OF A BOSTON HARBOR REGIONAL COASTAL RESILIENCY LAYERED DEFENSE SYSTEM Environmental Business Council of New England March 16, 2021 Presentation by the Boston Harbor Regional Working Group Boston Harbor Coastal Flooding is an Existential Regional Threat that Requires A Regional Solution Fifteen cities and 1. Boston 2. Braintree towns flood through 3. Cambridge Boston Harbor 4. Chelsea 5. Everett 6. Hingham 7. Hull 8. Malden 9. Medford 10. Milton 11. Quincy 12. Revere 13. Somerville 14. Weymouth 15. Winthrop CAUSES OF COASTAL FLOODING IN BOSTON HARBOR There are Three Separate Phenomena that Cause Climate Coastal Flooding in Boston Harbor * Sea Level Rise * Storm Surge * Subsidence SEA LEVEL RISE • Gradual in short-term and mid-term and subject to longer term prediction • Near Term: nuisance flooding with minimal damage STORM SURGE • Storm Surge is caused by extreme weather events such as Tropical Cyclones and Nor’ Easters • Storms are more frequent and getting stronger due to climate change • 2020 Records: 30 Named Atlantic Storms 12 Hit US • Fifteen of the Most Destructive US Storms in History have occurred since 2004 • Storm Surge Devastation Must Be Considered a More Urgent and More Devastating Threat than Sea Level Rise 2018 NOR’EASTERS A WAKE UP CALL ➢ The Entire Boston Harbor Region Was Impacted ➢ Public Safety and Security in All Coastal Communities ➢ Massachusetts Economy as well as the Region ➢ The Marine Ecology of Boston Harbor ➢ Our Social Justice Goals and Values A BOSTON HARBOR COASTAL RESILIENCY REGIONAL “LAYERED DEFENSE” SYSTEM OFFERS REGIONAL PROTECTION • A Boston Harbor coastal resiliency layered defense system with local land based coastal infrastructure for local protection against sea level rise combined with a regional sea gate system that provides regional protection storm surge has many advantages over a combined land based system LAND BASED COASTAL RESILIENCY INFRASTRUCTURE HAS LIMITATIONS • Flood walls separate the public from the water • Leave water dependent uses unprotected such as ferries, water taxi facilities, marinas, commercial terminals, piers docks, tank farms, air and land transportation facilities • Risk catastrophic overtopping • Leave communities outside Boston with insufficient benefit to justify cost • Leave poor and low income without uniform protection ADVANTAGES OF A LAYERED DEFENSE COASTAL RESILIENCY SYSTEM • Doesn’t leave communities outside Boston with insufficient benefit to justify cost • Provides uniform storm surge protection to all communities including poor and low income that are most devastated by storm surge flooding • Provides comprehensive protection for all public and private coastal infrastructure • Ensures regional public safety and economic protection The Economic Benefits of a Boston Harbor Regional “Layered Defense” System Protection of Public Infrastructure Protection of Residential and Commercial structures Reduction in Flood Related Building Code Costs Preservation of Private Asset Value and Public Tax Base Improved Municipal and Corporate Bond Ratings Increased Coastal Development Due to New Flood Related Zoning Restrictions Reduction in Business Disruption Costs Reduction in Insurance Costs Elimination of Mandatory FEMA and Other Federal Insurance Requirements Reduction in Cost of Perimeter Land Based Coastal Resilience Infrastructure Reduction in Storm Water Pumping and Retention Facility Costs Reduction in Public Safety Costs STUDY OF LAYERED DEFENSE OPTION IS GOOD PUBLIC POLICY • A layered defense could provide greater safety and protection of the Massachusetts economy for lower cost without greater environmental or other impacts of a combined land based infrastructure THE OPTION OF A BOSTON HARBOR REGIONAL COASTAL RESILIENCY LAYERED DEFENSE SYSTEM MERITS FURTHER STUDY The 2018 UMASS Study* now guiding public policy did not Include analysis of a regional “layered defense” or “hybrid system” where a regional storm surge sea gate system was operated together with municipal shoreline sea level defenses “One option not explored is a hybrid solution where a barrier is only used to manage low frequency, intense events with a limited number of closures during a decade and shore-based alternatives manage all other events while providing complementary protection to the events managed by a barrier system.” (P 173) • “Feasibility of Harbor-wide Barrier Systems, Preliminary Analysis for Boston Harbor” AN IN-DEPTH COST BENEFIT FEASIBILITY STUDY IS NECESSARY • An Expanded Study of a Boston Harbor Regional Coastal Resiliency System should begin with an in-depth cost benefit feasibility study since UMass Boston Study’s conclusion regarding a harbor-wide regional system was based on economics not environmental or other Impacts “The analysis has shown that while a harbor-wide barrier system would manage coastal flooding with perhaps minimal environmental impacts and moderate impacts on harbor users, its cost-effectiveness is low, and its operational period may extend only 50 to 60 years.” UMASS Boston ‘Feasibility of Harbor-wide Barrier Systems, Preliminary Analysis for Boston Harbor” (P 172) Cost Factors to be Included in Cost Benefit Feasibility Analysis • Cost and operational effectiveness of different locations and designs • Design life options • Alternative construction methods • Construction time frame • Multiple beneficial uses • Discount rates • Finance options POSSIBLE LOCATION OPTIONS TO BE STUDIED Sea Gate Systems are Proven Technology in the US and Europe The Systems in New Bedford, Providence and Stamford Connecticut Have Operated Reliably for Over Fifty Years Urgent Need to Act • Imminent Threat of Continuing Storm Surge Devastation • To Obtain Federal Funding Boston Harbor Municipalities We Need a Shovel Worthy Regional Coastal Layered Defense Regional Plan CONCLUSION • Coastal flooding in the fifteen cities and towns that flood through Boston Harbor is a regional issue that requires a regional solution that addresses local funding and private landowner issues and integrates municipal local infrastructure plans into a cost effect, comprehensive regional system • A Boston Harbor Regional Layered Defense System offers significant potential advantages as a regional protection system • As a matter of sound and prudent public policy, the Commonwealth we must proceed immediately with an in- depth cost benefit analysis to determine the economic viability of a coastal resiliency option that has already provided protection to three other New England Cities and is currently being evaluated by other major cities in the United States and around the World. Plans for Coastal Infrastructure City of Quincy, MA • Mayor Thomas P. Koch, City of Quincy • David C. Murphy, Executive Director Department of Natural Resources, City of Quincy • David A. Murphy, Vice President, Tighe & Bond Environmental Business Council of New England Energy Environment Economy QUINCY MA COASTAL RESILIENCY Environmental Business Council March 15, 2021 GREATEST FLOOD RISK: HISTORICAL FLOOD EVENTS • 9/1938 “The Great New England Hurricane” 10-17 inches of rain and 20-foot storm surge SEVERE WINTER WEATHER • 2/1978 “Blizzard of ’78” COASTAL EROSION 30 inch snowfall, 30-foot waves off shore 24 RL claims COASTAL AND INLAND • 10/1991 “Perfect Storm” FLOODING 25 foot waves coincided with high tide 69 RL claims NOR’ EASTERS • 4/2010 “Nor’easter” 7 inches rain, coastal flooding and high tide. 52 RL claims • 1/2018 Nor’easter “Greyson” Peak winds coinciding with high tide broke Boston Harbor 1978 high tide record. • 3/2018- Nor’easters “Riley & Skylar” Blizzard, high wind and storm surge. FEMA DR-4372/ 4379 2018 STORM RILEY 2018 STORM RILEY POST ISLAND ROAD SEA STREET 2018 STORM RILEY EMERGENCY REPAIRS BAYSWATER OUTFALL AREAS OF FLOODING CONCERNS RL HOUGHS NECK GERMANTOWN NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM • Quincy ranks 5th highest in MA 1979-2017 on Repetitive Loss claims • 174 RLS- 540 claims • 11 SRL- 73 claims FEMA REPETITIVE LOSS CLAIMS CLIMATE CHANGE FLOODING IMPACTS • Recommended approach for sea level rise estimates for projecting future coastal flooding risk in Quincy MA Sea Level Rise Time Period Projection² Likely Range³ (Feet) (Feet) Base (2000) 0 n/a Near Term (2030) 0.6 0.5-0.8 Mid Term (2050) 1.1 0.8-1.4 Long Term (2070) 1.6 1.3-2.4 2 50% percentile, or median value 3 Range = 66% percent confidence limits (>17% and <83%) VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS HMP Update completed in 2018 MVP Certified in 2019 SUMMARY OF EXISTING FLOOD RISK- PROPERTIES Furnace Brook Merrymount/Blacks North Creek 4% Quincy 17% 30% 83% 66% 7% 13% Houghs Squantum Neck/Germantown Point/Marina Bay 80% 6% 6%