The town of Swampscott, Mass., has selected Kleinfelder to develop an integrated climate change coastal resiliency and flood control plan to help the community plan and prepare for sea level rise, flooding from extreme rainfall and intense storm surges.
Paid for by a $70,100 Coastal Community Resilience Grant, the project contains six tasks: developing an inundation model to assess coastal and inland flooding; determining the most vulnerable and at-risk infrastructure, buildings and natural resources; developing recommendations to reduce risk; reviewing existing policies to promote climate change adaptation; recommending long-term adaptation strategies; and promoting public education and outreach about climate change risk and resiliency throughout the community.
“This project represents the future of climate change resiliency services because it integrates the engineering aspects of flood management with cutting-edge climate science,” says Dave Peterson, P.E., Kleinfelder’s senior professional. “Not only is this approach novel, but it is also extremely comprehensive, and will ensure that Swampscott continues to be a thriving community in the future.”
Kleinfelder’s proprietary climate change vulnerability and risk assessment services have been utilized by many cities and businesses. Developed with academia, the company’s climate services are an industry-leading method of ranking and prioritizing climate change vulnerabilities across a variety of assets and systems, including infrastructure, the natural environment and public health. The rankings are then translated into implementable actions to help cities and stakeholders prepare for a changing climate.
Source: Kleinfelder